Petia Genova Kalou
National Centre of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Bulgaria
Biography
Statement of the Problem: Viral infections, such as EBV, CMV, mumps, SARS-CoV-2, HIV, rubella and others) are the most common cause of an upper respiratory tract infections (RTI) with lymphadenopathy (LP) in human population worldwide. Early and accurate detection of the viral presence in patient sample is crucial for appropriate treatment and prevention. Molecular techniques, such as conventional and real-time PCR provide rapid viral detection and are an “gold standard”. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors also are a promising alternative for highly sensitive and specific detection of viral infections. The purposes of this study were: 1) to assess the prevalence of CMV, EBV, mumps and SARS-CoV-2 infectious among patients with upper RTI and (LP) for one-year period (2022) by demonstrating of presence of viral DNA/RNA in nasopharyngeal swabs (NpS) and 2) to evaluate the performance of the SPR-based assay for diagnostic of SARS-CoV-2.
Methodology: We tested NpS samples from 85 patients, collected at 2022 with diagnosis upper RTI and LP from different hospitals of the country, with a mean age of 39 ± 13.9 years. Real-time PCR and cPCR were used to diagnose the fourth viruses. SPR-based assay was performed parallel for diagnostic of SARS-CoV-2.
Findings: A positive EBV real-time PCR result was detected in 6 patient samples (7,1%), mumps virus RNA in 2 patients (2,4%), CMV DNA in 1 NpS (1,2%). The 13 patients had positive real-time PCR signal for SARS-CoV-2 (15,3%), confirmed in 10 NpS samples (77%) with SPR-based assay. No co-infection between tested viruses were observed in this study. The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and EBV were higher than the other tested viruses.
Conclusion: We have concluded that SPR-based biosensor assay holds huge potential for rapid viral detection. The obtained results for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis are comparable to those of PCR, providing fast and high specific detection of SARS-CoV-2 and thereby helping in disease control.
Acknowledgment: This research was funded by Bulgarian National Science Fund, grand number КP-06-DК 1/10 from 29/03/2021 with the title: "Study of the interaction of specific structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 with biologically active molecules and their application for the creation of rapid antigen tests for early diagnosis of Covid-19"