A new rapid diagnostic test that can differentiate between different strains of Chagas disease parasite could lead to a widespread testing programme.

The Triatoma or “kissing” bug.
Image/CDC

Researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Kent, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the charity TroZonX17 have developed a blood test that can identify the main types of parasite that cause Chagas disease, which affects eight million people primarily in Latin America.

This rapid diagnostic test (RDT) could be performed cheaply and quickly using a small sample of blood. The details of the test are published in Scientific Reports.

Read more at Imperial College London