According to estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO), 3 to 5 million cholera outbreaks occur every year in the world, and 100,000 to 120,000 people die. After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the outbreak of cholera in the region has caused 3,000 deaths. The World Health Organization warned that the outbreak of the cholera epidemic will continue to increase.
According to a recent report by the British Engineers website, scientists at the University of Central Florida have recently developed a new technology that allows earthquake rescue workers to detect water sources that may be contaminated with cholera toxin.
During the test, the researchers coated the glycans on iron oxide nanoparticles and added them to the water sample. If cholera toxin is present in the water sample, the cholera toxin will adhere to the glycans because of the chemical structure of the glycan and the cholera toxin receptor (ganglioside GM1) found on the surface of dead cells that died of cholera. very similar.
The researchers believe that this technology may be cheaper than the existing detection methods, and the test results can be obtained more quickly, helping rescue workers limit people's access to contaminated water sources and curb the spread of the disease.
The project’s principal researcher, Manuel Perez, assistant professor at the University of Central Florida, said, “This is amazing, which means that we have a faster diagnostic tool and use it simply and relatively cheaply. The combination of dextran and nanoparticles."
Researchers say that in countries with poor health conditions, the outbreak of disease caused by drinking water pollution is often fatal. In addition, bioterrorism or food contamination can also bring about deadly toxins. Although more research is needed to prove the applicability of the technology, it has shown great application prospects.
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