Public health surveillance systems are critical for modern public health. These systems provide information and data to evaluate the presence and burden of adverse health events, monitor control measures, enforce public health measures, and discover emerging conditions that may impact the population’s health.
Surveillance systems contain the collection, analysis, and evaluation of data needed to plan, implement, and assess public health practices. These systems have components and processes that help health practitioners to perform surveillance. Surveillance processes may include data management, data collection, data analysis, data quality monitoring, interpretation of results, and sharing and application of results in public health programs.
The enabling aspects of surveillance systems include diagnostics for health conditions, technology to monitor and support diverse surveillance processes, and consultation and reporting of different public health workers and personnel involved in legislation and policies regarding the conduct of surveillance. The ultimate goal of health surveillance is to generate data that can guide health decisions. Today, Meso Scale Discovery (MSD) assay plays a critical role in public health surveillance.
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MSD analysis and public health surveillance
MSD mesoscale has a proprietary technology to measure molecules in biological samples. MSD immunoassay technology helps scientists profile biomarkers such as intracellular signaling, proteins, and cytokines, directly influencing drug discovery and development. MSD ELISA combines electrochemiluminescence detection and multi-array technology to offer enhanced sensitivity and multiplex capacities, making them an ideal choice for public health surveillance.
Electrochemiluminescence detection provides a unique amalgamation of convenience, dynamic range, and sensitivity that cannot be found in other detection technologies. MSD assay technology achieves high-quality and reliable results in multiple sample types, making it an exceptional public health surveillance tool. Multi-array plates combine multiple arrays and electrochemiluminescence to deliver highly dense and rapid results. This technology is installed in multi-spot plates, enabling precise quantitation of numerous molecules in a single sample volume. This feature requires less effort and time compared to other assay platforms.
MSD immunoassay platform offers unmatched customer value and analytical performance. Their assay platform includes different assays, such as MSD cytokine and NAb assays . MSD assay reduces several issues associated with other assay platforms while delivering accuracy, simpler workflows, and superior data reliability.
MSD assay technology has specific panels to detect antigens from different pathogens and viruses associated with public health. For example, MSD V-plex serology panels can detect antibodies against antigens from circulating coronaviruses, MERS, SARS-1, SARS CoV-2, SARS CoV-2 variants, and other respiratory pathogens. This specific format is developed using a large library of antigens and then arranged into panels. This menu of serology panels includes the V-plex SARS CoV-2 panel 2, which was selected by Operation Warp Speed based on its standard binding assay format for immunogenicity testing in vaccine phase 3 clinical trials.
The V-plex SARS CoV-2 panel focuses on different strains of viral antigen, including variants such as alpha, beta, gamma, delta, lambda, mu, and omicron. Besides, the V-plex respiratory panels include antigens for RSV and influenza. Human serology tests are also available as kits with reference standards and controls calibrated against WHO international standards.