Development of a rapid diagnostic test for Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Singaporean academics and industry have joined together to develop a rapid test for Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD).

Rockeby biomed has joined with the Departments of Paediatrics and Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS) to develop the test. The research project has been awarded the Medical Technology Proof-of-Concept grant of SG$200,000 by the Singaporean government's Economic Development Board (EDB).

The team is developing seroproteome analysis to identify unique immunogenic protein(s) of EV71. This will be used to raise specific EV71 antibodies, which will be incorporated into an immunochromatic lateral flow device for point-of-care detection.

This rapid test can be used by doctors in clinics and hospitals for quick detection of HFMD. Currently, there are no rapid diagnostic tests for the disease available commercially.

Caused by the virus Enterovirus 71, the disease usually occurs during the summer and autumn months and typically causes small epidemics in nursery schools or kindergartens. It is a common illness of infants and children, characterised by fever, sores in the mouth and a rash with blisters. It is highly contagious and is spread through direct contact with the mucus or faeces of an infected person.

There is no vaccine or treatment for the virus, so early detection and control of the disease is important.

"We are proud to be given this opportunity to participate in this project, which we view as a public service," said Dr Tan Sze-Wee, Managing Director of Rockeby biomed.

In the Asia-Pacific region, there has been an increase in the number of epidemics of HFMD. In Western Australia, approximately 6000 cases of HFMD occurred over a 6-month period during 1999.

In Singapore, an outbreak in 2000 killed four children and in 2006, there were more than 3000 cases of the diseases.

The largest HFMD outbreak to date occurred in Taiwan during 1998, when 1.5 million cases were reported by the national sentinel surveillance network.