FY2024 CDC/NCIRD SBIR 036-Improved Diagnostic Assays for Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella

Childhood respiratory diseases such as measles, mumps, varicella, mbella, RSV, and whooping cough are resurging as immunization rates fall below herd immunity. Global and national public health officials need sensitive and specific multiplexed diagnostic tests that can detect pathogens present in a sample and mle out all that are not. Using sequencing and MiFi® technology in the clinical diagnostic setting, medical doctors will be able to definitively determine the causal pathogen(s) in infectious respiratory disease in nasal swab samples from children. MiFi detects pathogens in a sample with sets of pathogen-specific sequences called e-probes. This NIH project will support the design, validation, and proof of concept testing of e-probes specific to measles, mumps, and respiratory syncytial vimses. The long-term goal is to develop e-probe sets for all pathogens that cause respiratory illnesses and disseminate lhe technology across the world. For Public Health tracking, it will be useful to test for all clades, strains, and serotypes in a sample. In clinical sellings, for children with symptoms of fever, rash, sore throat, sneezing, coughing, and rum1y nose, which could be caused by vimses or bacteria, MiFi will provide accurate and affordable multiplexed diagnostic testing to eliminate guesswork and improve efficacy of treatment.