MOBILE LABORATORY FOR HIV DIAGNOSIS NEW BLOOD-TEST CONCEPT AS PART OF TREATMENT THERAPY FOR AIDS SUFFERERS AT A FRACTION OF THE COST

Muenster, Germany 2. 7. 2002 (PROTEXT/ots) A newly developedmobile diagnosis unit will be unveiled at the forthcomingInternational AIDS Conference in Barcelona. The new mobilelaboratory will reduce the current high costs of treatmenttherapy from around USD 40 per patient test to below USD 2. Themost remarkable aspect of this new concept is that blood-celldiagnosis, which is absolutely vital for effective therapy tohalt the virus, is now affordable without impairing the qualityand accuracy of the test results. The mobile mini-laboratory willmeet the particular demands of developing countries, and medicalstaff will be able to organize and provide effective treatmentfor AIDS sufferers in remote regions. The new mobile flow-through zytometry laboratory wasdeveloped on the initiative of the non-profit-making FondationJ.B. in Geneva, part of the Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaetin Muenster, together with the two biotechnology companiesPartec and CyTecs. The laboratory, which is built into a cross-country vehicle, will be unveiled to the public at the XIVInternational AIDS Conference during the second week of Julythis year. The newly developed flow-through zytometer forms anessential part of the mobile laboratory, which can operate faraway from medical centres owing to its maintenance-free androbust construction. The equipment enables subgroups of whiteblood corpuscles to be differentiated and counted. Using thisblood test as part of the therapy, doctors will be able todetermine the so-called CD4+ T cells, the number of which is anindicator of the immune-defence level.

Hitherto, the number of sufferers who have had their immune-defence level measured has been limited due to high costs.Conventional flow-through zytometers are too costly and, as aresult, tests to determine the number of cells are tooexpensive. To operate such equipment, large central laboratorieswith the corresponding infrastructure are required; these are notusually available in remote regions in developing countries.According to the latest figures, hardly more than 1 per cent ofAIDS victims can currently receive treatment in Africa, althoughanti-retroviral chemotherapy has proved successful and isavailable free of charge in many places.

Initiated and financed by the Fondation J.B., the firstmobile CD4 laboratory will be introduced into Burkina Faso inWest Africa. The French Red Cross will be sponsoring thisproject.

ots Original Text Service: Partec GmbH Internet:http://www.presseportal.de

Partec GmbH Otto-Hahn-Str. 32 D-48161 Muenster

Contact partner: Roland Goehde Tel.: +49 2534 8008-0 Fax:+49 2534 8008-90 E-mail: info@partec.de Website: www.partec.de

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