Did you know that among the circa 100M Dengue infections yearly, up to 60% are hospitalized, yet only 2% died from severe dengue shock?
What if there was a test to predict the risk of severe dengue complications accurately – a simple yes/no for hospitalization? StratifiCare makes this possible.
A world's first, StratifiDen is proven in clinical validation trials to prioritize the early treatment of at-risk severe dengue patients and reduce the financial burden of unnecessary Dengue hospitalization by 67%.
With the world climate warming, Dengue has been a growing threat to the world's populations for decades. An estimated 40% of the world is at risk of dengue fever, and there are around 390 million infections a year. Dengue is a mosquito-borne disease that causes flu-like symptoms and can be lethal, killing up to 20% of those who develop severe dengue.
The rainy seasons exacerbate the disease, especially in tropical climates in countries like Brazil and India. Now, its season in these countries is lengthening significantly. In 2018, Bangladesh saw the highest number of deaths in almost two decades. Malaysia cases increased by 30% in just one year and in Brazil, the numbers exceed 1M by year. Worse still, is that the disease is spreading to less tropical and more temperate countries such as Nepal, a country that has not traditionally seen the disease. Today there are reported epidemics across Bangladesh, The Ivory Coast, Honduras, Brazil, India, and the Philippines.
In countries, like Singapore, we are seeing even worse traits, the mosquitoes adapting to our rigorous dengue prevention and eradication programs. Worse still, officials report that the mosquitoes have evolved to have shortened lifecycles and thus becoming smaller, and are now able to breed in even smaller volumes of water.
I am very honored to have recently joined the Board of Advisors of StratifiCare, a National University of Singapore startup saving lives, like that of Avinash - a 7-year old who died from Severe Dengue after being rejected by 5 hospitals due to a shortage of beds.
Now her Doctor can administer her standard dengue blood test to determine if she has the virus, and at the same time test for her predisposition to severe dengue. Imagine a simple yes/no result of her severe dengue predisposition. Now, Clinicians can prioritize her bed and treatment plan, ensuring that she has the medical support that she needs.
With specificity and sensitivity results of more than 97% and 90% respectively, the company is well placed to make an impact on this neglected disease.
This test is currently now in its regional clinical validation studies across the world's leading hospitals in South East Asia, including NUH and Tan Tock Seng Hospitals in Singapore. We have successfully completed recruitment for our final local clinical study. This study serves to build confidence in the local clinicians in our Severe Dengue prediction biomarker technology and to empower them to quickly adopt it.
The current tool for severe dengue prognosis is a WHO Guideline from 2009, where the clinician has a checklist for physical symptoms such as bleeding gums or stomach pain. StratifiDen's prognostic provides a scientific method for severe dengue predisposition based on the evidence of 3 biomarkers in the blood.
Supported by Enterprise Singapore, AXA Partners Asia, and Innovative Diagnostics, StratifiDen is the world's first severe dengue prognostic test. Designed to complement existing mosquito eradication programs and vaccines, and targeted for emerging markets, those hit hardest by dengue, StratifiCare is working hard to make a measurable impact.
Together we will be tackling this neglected disease head-on to reduce the over hospitalization financial burden, saving lives and ensuring prioritization of beds to those patients, like Avinash, in need.
We are currently seeking the support of interested and supportive Foundations, Governments, insurers, impact investors, venture capital, distributors and hospitals to help us accelerate our impact.
StratifiCare™was founded in 2015 with the vision of empowering personalized medicine for tomorrow through our innovative diagnostic solutions. Due to the lack of advanced medical technology, physicians find it hard to provide individualized treatment for patients.
This may result in less optimal clinical outcomes and usage of healthcare resources. By developing technologically advanced in vitro diagnostic solutions, Stratificare transforms the way patients are managed through personalized care and create value for all. It is currently completing its clinical validation study and to date reports one of the highest rates of sensitivity and specificity for the world's first severe dengue prognostic - StratifiDen. StratifiDen is the first product of a portfolio of prognostics, that will be made available to the global market.
#diagnostics #severedengue #epidemic #climatechange #biotechnology