In first of its kind in the world, scientists at the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) here have developed a kit which can detect typhoid from a person's blood sample instantaneously. The kit helps in providing result within minutes and does away with the requirement of a trained healthcare worker to make a diagnosis.
The kit is more advanced than the widely used current method such as the Widal Test, which involves collection of the patient's serum and takes nearly one day for the result. According to Dr. G.P. Rai, who headed the team that developed the kit, the kit provides a simple "go-no-go" result that also eliminated similar fevers like paratyphoid.
The kit, which has been extensively evaluated by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PIGMER), Chandigarh and G.R. Hospital, Gwalior, works thus. A drop of blood would be mixed with the serum of the suspected typhoid patient. If it was typhoid, granules would form within a minute or two. The kit contained enough material for doing 30 field tests , which would cost less than Rs.10 per test, according to Dr. Rai.
Dr. Rai told Pharmabiz.com that the DRDE has applied for a patent for both the process and reagent. Two major Indian biotechnology companies are already in talks with DRDE for mass production of the kit.
Typhoid affects 15 million people worldwide. In India around 30 lakh cases of typhoid are reported every year.