Fiocruz produces inputs for monkeypox diagnosis
The first suspected cases of monkeypox in Brazil led Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) to produce - in a record time of one week - through the Institute of Molecular Biology of Paraná (IBMP), positive controls to aid in a safe disease diagnosis.
The first reagents have been delivered to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) - the regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO) - to be distributed in at least 20 countries. Another shipment of positive controls was sent today (Jun. 8) to reference laboratories in Brazil, at the request of the General Coordination of Public Health Laboratories (Health Surveillance Secretariat/Ministry of Health).
According to Fiocruz, the positive controls reflect the national capacity to produce critical inputs for the diagnosis.
“This strategic action expands the national response capacity in the face of public health emergencies,” said Fiocruz president Nísia Trindade Lima. She said with the development of positive controls, Fiocruz takes an important step towards autonomy and independence in the local production of diagnostic tests.
Reliability
The positive control guarantees the reliability of the reaction during the molecular test (qPCR), preventing errors that could interfere with the result. The material developed by IBMP is intended for exclusive use in research, under the responsibility of Brazilian and Latin American reference laboratories for the control of the monkeypox virus.
According to IBMP Technological Development manager Fabricio K. Marchini, raw materials and the institution's own expertise have been used in the development of diagnostic kits, in addition to what is published in the international scientific literature, to produce reactions with quality, and that allow the accurate and safe molecular diagnosis of monkeypox.
Currently, four laboratories in Brazil are able to diagnose the disease: Viruses Molecular Biology Laboratory (Carlos Chagas Filho Institute of Biophysics - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), Minas Gerais/ Ezequiel Dias Foundation Central Laboratory of Public Health, São Paulo/Instituto Adolfo Lutz Central Laboratory of Public Health, and Reference Laboratory on Enteroviruses at Oswaldo Cruz Institute.
