Ontario Ministry of Health Uses Seegene to Effectively Screen Multiple Respiratory Pathogens in a Single Test

Seegene today announced that the Molecular Diagnostic Branch of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for Ontario, Canada's most densely populated province, is reporting excellent results from public screenings for respiratory virus and pneumobacter detection using the company’s "Seeplex" Respiratory diagnostic test.

Seegene's Seeplex respiratory test is helping the Province of Ontario carry out this important public health initiative because Seeplex is the only diagnostic capable of simultaneously detecting the most prevalent respiratory infections – both virus and bacteria born – in a single test. The Seeplex respiratory test can simultaneously detect 11 different respiratory RNA viruses, 2 DNA viruses, and 5 pneumonia bacteria from samples including nasopharyngeal aspirates, nasopharyngeal swabs and bronchoalveolar lavage. Moreover, the Seegene respiratory test can be performed for the price of testing for a single pathogen, fundamentally altering the current economics of rapid diagnostic testing and making public disease screenings such as those carried out in Ontario possible.

Begun in August, 2007, Ontario's surveillance programs and related comparison techniques apply two different diagnostic methods for the pandemic studies, and they are using Seegene's Seeplex tests as a third for comparison studies. The Ministry is reporting excellent objective results using Seegene's tests, citing Seeplex's objective results interpretation, robust reproducibility and the test's high sensitivity and specificity. In addition, the Ministry singles out the ease-of-use of the Seeplex tests, which require no special training or skills, and not running out of precious samples because due to Seeplex's ability to detect multiple pathogens with just one sample.

"The Seeplex Respiratory is proving to be an important tool in the active surveillance of respiratory infections," said Jong-Yoon Chun, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Seegene. "Antimicrobial drug resistance is a major public health concern and a threat to the effectiveness of existing antimicrobial drugs. Antimicrobial resistant pathogens continue to emerge that are very difficult to treat and that may cause serious or life-threatening diseases. Seegene's multi-pathogen Seeplex tests give clinical healthcare personnel the ability to quickly determine whether a patient's respiratory ailment is caused by a virus or bacteria, and subsequently prescribe the best course of treatment whether an antibiotic, antimicrobial or bed rest."

Seegene's Respiratory Test detects Influenza A virus; Influenza B virus; Human respiratory syncytial virus A; Human respiratory syncytial virus B; Human parainfluenzae virus 1; Human parainfluenzae virus 2; Human parainfluenzae virus 3; Human coronavirus 229E/NL63; Human coronavirus OC43/HKU1; Human rhinovirus; Human enterovirus; Human adenovirus; Human bocavirus; Legionella pneumoniae; Streptococcus pneumoniae; Chlamydophila pneumoniae; Haemophilus influenzae; Mycoplasma pneumoniae.