New Dengue Test

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new diagnostic test for dengue fever has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, a CDC press release says. The test, dubbed the CDC DENV-1-4 Real Time RT PCR Assay, is approved for use in people who are showing symptoms of dengue fever or dengue hemorrhagic fever. The test detects viral DNA and may be able to diagnose the disease earlier than antibody-based tests can. "The need for the new dengue diagnostic test was high," said Jorge Munoz-Jordan, chief of Molecular Diagnostics and Research at the CDC Dengue Branch, in a statement. "Patients will be diagnosed sooner than before, and public health laboratories will have a clearer picture of the true number of dengue cases."