New Test May Better Diagnose African Sleeping Sickness, Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) Study

Researchers announced on Thursday the development of a new test to diagnose Trypanosomiasis, an often deadly parasitic disease commonly known as sleeping sickness. The LAMP (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification) test is "designed to be suitable for use in rural African settings where the disease is most common," the Geneva-based Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and Japanese diagnostics company Eiken said in a press release. The new test "promises to dramatically improve the ability to confirm a diagnosis of sleeping sickness - even when parasites are present in low numbers - through detection of the parasite's DNA in patient samples."