Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Observational
Official Title: Investigation in Sickle Cell Disease of a New Reagent Assay Examining Natural Parvovirus B19 Infection
Brief Summary:
Parvovirus B19 is a small virus that is the cause of "fifth" disease, a common infection in childhood. In people with sickle cell disease (SCD), parvovirus B19 infection causes the bone marrow to stop producing red blood cells temporarily, which can be life-threatening. A novel vaccine is currently in development for children with SCD. This study is the first step within a larger parvovirus B19 multi-institutional project that will help develop this new vaccine, as it will define the value and utility of using a novel assay for measurement of parvovirus-specific antibodies. The main objective is to investigate the relationship between the newly developed VP1u ELISA assay and the gold standard neutralization assay for parvovirus B19 infection.
The most accurate test, called a neutralizing antibody assay, to see if a person has had or currently has the infection is very complex and expensive and would be very difficult to use in a large research study to test the new vaccine. A new and simpler test has developed. The main goal of this study, iSCREEN, is to find out if this new test works.
There will be distinct labs performing the VP1u ELISA and the neutralization assays and the respective laboratories will not have access to each other's results for individual subjects. The VP1u ELISA will be performed at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Neutralization assays will be conducted at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.