Recent advances in sensors for early detection of pathogens causing rheumatic heart disease

Abstract

Purpose

There is an immense concern in the international community about controlling the outburst of infectious diseases. An essential step towards diminishing it is the development of an adequate detection system. Among the huge plethora of microorganisms which may infect the human body, Streptococcus pyogenes is important one which infects the upper respiratory tract leading to sore throat, which eventually develops into rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the absence of timely treatment. A major process in controlling the infection is to detect it at an early stage. Hence, there is a need to develop detection tools which are both rapid and reliable.

Design/methodology/approach

Different types of diagnostic methods are available for identification, but the most commonly used are culturing, staining and rapid antigen detection tests. For better sensitivity and specificity, this review describes the development of biosensor. Compared with the current available methods, which are usually cumbersome, time-consuming and expensive, this approach features sequence specificity, cost efficiency, rapid and ease of use.

Findings

This review outlines various sensors which are available for the detection of Streptococcus pyogenes which causes human RHD. The working scheme of the sensors, their sensitivity and limitation of detection has been described in the review.

Originality/value

The review fulfills an acknowledged the need to study various sensors that are available for the detection of Streptococcus pyogenes, causing human RHD.

Citation

Singh, S., Kaushal, A. and Kumar, A. (2018), "Recent advances in sensors for early detection of pathogens causing rheumatic heart disease", Sensor Review, Vol. 38 No. 1, pp. 92-98. https://doi.org/10.1108/SR-06-2017-0094