Point-of-Care Influenza Testing for Emergency-Pandemic-Disaster Care

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the UC Davis-Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) point-of-care testing (POCT) Center is to improve the accessibility, portability, and field robustness of POC devices for critical care units, emergency rooms, community hospitals, rural areas, and disaster response sites. Core 1. The LLNL team will develop a compact user-friendly POC system that uses isothermal loop mediated amplification (LAMP) for simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens (Candida sp., E. Colt, Pseudomonas, Staph. Aureus, and Strep. Pneumoniae) in human whole-blood samples, with reduction to practice as one prototype for hospital settings and a second more robust prototype for rapid field diagnosis in emergencies and disasters. Core 2. The UCD team will test the Core 1 prototypes and facilitate the development of new POC devices consistent with the overall theme of critical-emergencv-disaster care and also serve as a Network resource for the evaluation of emerging POC technologies to define environmental tolerance limits for heat, cold, humidity, shock, and water exposure (e.g., Hurricane Katrina). Core 3. Early practical trials and needs assessment surveys will generate robustness criteria and evidence-based standards for POCT implementation in DMATs (Disaster Management Assistance Teams), mobile rescue units, and small-world networks;worldwide web-based distance learning and workshops will educate, train, and disseminate vital information from our new state-of-the-art Education Building and William F. Blaisdell Medical Library at UCDMC. Core 4. The POCT Center will train healthcare and technical developers in clinical applications of rapid pathogen detection and in POCT practices for adverse environments found in disasters. Core 5. Integrative leadership will move POCT discoveries swiftly into daily medical practice. POC connectivity trials with Telemedicine at UCDMC and the Wireless Internet Information System for Medical Response in Disasters, UC San Diego, will deploy POCT for emergencies.