Flu Tests Detect New Virus Variants

The flu season has begun and different virus variants are also circulating in Germany. With the flu tests from biotechnology company R-Biopharm, patients quickly have certainty: Its RIDA®GENE Flu assays also reliably detect the two novel variants. The company made the announcement with regard to influenza A H1N1pdm09, which is circulating primarily in the United Kingdom, and the H3N2 subtype, which was rampant in Denmark in the spring and is currently dominating influenza activity in Germany.

"Mutations in the target gene (MP gene) can affect the diagnostic performance of influenza screening assays, producing false-negative test results," explained Dr Andreas Simons, Head of Product Management at R-Biopharm. "Alignments of the detection systems we used with the described sequences of the two novel virus variants showed no mismatches. Their reliable detection is not affected by the described mutations."

This means laboratories can continue to reliably confirm or rule out influenza infections using R-Biopharm's RIDA®GENE (PG0505, PG0545, PG6825) assays. The tests are multiplex real-time RT-PCR for the direct qualitative detection of influenza viruses.

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