PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Devy M Emperador
AU  - Solomon A Yimer
AU  - Laura T Mazzola
AU  - Gunnstein Norheim
AU  - Cassandra Kelly-Cirino
TI  - Diagnostic applications for Lassa fever in limited-resource settings
AID  - 10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001119
DP  - 2019 Feb 01
TA  - BMJ Global Health
PG  - e001119
VI  - 4
IP  - Suppl 2
4099  - http://gh.bmj.com/content/4/Suppl_2/e001119.short
4100  - http://gh.bmj.com/content/4/Suppl_2/e001119.full
AB  - Lassa fever, caused by arenavirus Lassa virus (LASV), is an acute viral haemorrhagic disease that affects up to an estimated 300 000 individuals and causes up to 5000 deaths per year in West Africa. Currently available LASV diagnostic methods are difficult to operationalise in low-resource health centres and may be less sensitive to detecting all known or emerging LASV strains. To prioritise diagnostic development for LASV, we assessed the diagnostic applications for case detection, clinical management, surveillance, outbreak response, and therapeutic and vaccine development at various healthcare levels. Diagnostic development should prioritise point-of-care and near-patient diagnostics, especially those with the ability to detect all lineages of LASV, as they would allow for rapid detection in resource-limited health facilities closer to the patient.