SARS test: Australian quest underway
30 May 2003
Two teams of Australian researchers are working to develop a fast and reliable test that can reliably distinguish severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) from other diseases with influenza-like symptoms.
The Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, has announced that the teams, led by researchers from the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory and the Westmead Millenium Research Institute in Sydney, will work on the task with special funding provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Senator Patterson said: ‘Teams led by Dr Michael Catton in Victoria and Dr Bin Wang in Sydney will use different methodologies to develop a quick and reliable test to distinguish between SARS and other viral diseases with ‘flu-like symptoms’ and will deliver their findings in 3 months time.
‘Dr Catton’s team will use well-established techniques to develop a test for SARS. Their work will complement international efforts but tailor them to Australian requirements. Dr Wang’s project will adapt a novel and innovative molecular technique to detect the SARS virus in the early stages of infection. If successful this technique could be a world-first for Australia,’ said Senator Patterson.
The 2 approaches aim to complement each other in developing the all-important diagnostic tests for detecting the SARS virus and also for detecting the presence of antibodies against the virus in the blood.
The team in Victoria will work with the live virus within one of the most secure biosafety laboratories in Australia, and will also collaborate with other laboratories across Australia which will use non-infectious material. The Sydney-based team will complete the methodological development in Australia and carry out field tests in China using patient material from clinical cases of SARS.
SARS is a severe, readily transmissible chest infection that first appeared in Southern China in November 2002. It has subsequently spread to 29 countries and by mid-May 2003 had caused a total of 7747 cases and 552 deaths. To date, the greatest impact has been in China, with Canada the most severely affected country outside Asia.
Approximately 15 per cent of cases are fatal, with death rates increasing with age — up to 50 per cent of those aged over 65 years infected with SARS have died. There is, as yet, no specific cure for SARS nor a vaccine to protect against it.
Last Reviewed: 02 June 2003
