Abstract
H1N1 (Swine flu) is caused by influenza A virus, which is a member of Orthomyxoviridae family. Transmission of H1N1 occurs from human to human through air or sometimes from pigs to humans. The influenza virus has different RNA segments, which can reassert to make new virus strain with the possibility to create an outbreak in unimmunized people. Gene reassortment is a process through which new strains are emerging in pigs, as it has specific receptors for both human influenza and avian influenza viruses. H1N1 binds specifically with an α-2,6 glycosidic bond, which is present in human respiratory tract cells as well as in pigs. Considering the fact of fast multiplication of viruses inside the living cells, rapid detection methods need an hour. Currently, WHO recommended methods for the detection of swine flu include real-time PCR in specific testing centres that take 3–4 h. More recently, a number of methods such as Antigen–Antibody or RT-LAMP and DNA biosensors have also been developed that are rapid and more sensitive. This review describes the various challenges in the diagnosis of H1N1, and merits and demerits of conventional vis-à-vis latest methods with special emphasis on biosensors.
Highlights
Virus borne infectious diseases are the major concern of today’s world, every day new viruses are causing outbreaks and old viruses are becoming stronger
In April 2009, a novel Influenza virus (H1N1) emerged in Mexico, which aired all around the world within week and World Health Organization (WHO) declared it global pandemic of phase 6 level on 11 June 2009, which ended on 10 August 2010 with several deaths worldwide (WHO report)
In an another study thar performed during 2009 influenza A H1N1 outbreak, a comparison was carried out between TruFlu rapid influenza A and B, rapid assay Directigen EZ detection and Direct Immuno Flourecence assay (DFA) test with Real-time Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of swine origin influenza virus (S-OIV)
Summary
Virus borne infectious diseases are the major concern of today’s world, every day new viruses are causing outbreaks and old viruses are becoming stronger. In April 2009, a novel Influenza virus (H1N1) emerged in Mexico, which aired all around the world within week and WHO declared it global pandemic of phase 6 level on 11 June 2009, which ended on 10 August 2010 with several deaths worldwide (WHO report) It was first detected in 1930 in pigs as classical swine H1N1 in the United States after 1918 pandemic of H1N1 [3,4]. This virus was a result of quadruple reassortment in triply assorted virus with Eurasian (Europe and Asia) swine virus, in which one of the viruses was descendent of 1918 strain [5] It is a negative sense single-stranded RNA virus having eight segments, which codes for transcriptase, surface glycoproteins, hemagglutunin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), matrix protein and nucleocapsid proteins [6,7,8]. HA of different viruses recognizes different receptors on host cells in which human influenza virus recognizes α, 2-6 glycosidic bond between sialic acid and galactose on respiratory cells but avian influenza virus binds with
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