Hosting and assay optimization for undifferentiated febrile illnesses
Dr. Oyibo was interested in determining which infectious agents (besides malaria) caused febrile illnesses in patients of Lagos state. BVGH connected Dr. Oyibo with Dr. Pinsky, who had developed a highly sensitive real-time RT-PCR-based molecular diagnostic platform that detected and distinguished nucleic acids from dengue virus and Plasmodium parasites. BVGH facilitated the placement of a graduate student from Dr. Oyibo’s laboratory in Dr. Pinsky’s laboratory at Stanford to advance her education and training. Using the multiplex assay to screen Dr. Oyibo’s plasma and whole blood samples from patients with malarial and non-malarial fevers, the student confirmed malaria diagnoses in a significant number of samples that had tested negative by microscopy.