QuantiFERON-CMV

I'll have something to say about QFT-CMV later but I'd rather watch Doctor Who tonight, so I'll start by repeating my description of QFT-CMV from earlier in this blog.


QuantiFERON-CMV


This is quite an interesting diagnostic that actually begins to open up the view that the QFT Technology has a huge number of potential applications.


Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a herpes virus that infects between 50% and 85% of the population. Similarly to TB, it remains in a latent form in the body and causes no problems for people under normal circumstances. Again, the competent immune system deals with CMV quite effectively.


However, it poses special problems for transplant patients. If a donor recipient that does not have the T-cells to fight CMV receives an organ from a donor with CMV, the recipient is at huge risk of developing full blown CMV which, at worst, can result in death. Furthermore, the anti-rejection drugs administered after transplant can weaken the immune system enough for CMV to become active.


As opposed to QFT-TB, QFT-CMV is not used to determine if somebody has CMV - rather it is used to determine if somebody has the T-cells to fight CMV. It is important that this status be established before transplant and monitored during post operation recovery. This is the role of QFT-CMV. 


There are currently about 70,000 solid organ transplants performed in the world each year - each of these transplants would require multiple uses of QFT-CMV. Clearly, CMV is not going to generate the same income as QFT-TB (even though it sells at a price of multiples of QFT-TB). However, over time (particularly as the number of transplants increase) it will generate significant income.