Thermo Fisher Scientific announced availability of qualyfast® DNA Extraction kit, a fast DNA extraction kit designed to detect Legionella in clear water samples. Extracted DNA can be directly used in downstream applications, including PCR and qPCR, without the need for further purification.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused worldwide disruption, but SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, isn’t the only concerning microorganism as businesses re-open or scale up operations. Consequently, organizations are turning to environmental testing laboratories to ensure water systems are free of dangerous Legionella bacteria.
Commercial operations that have been closed for several weeks or even months are at a heightened risk of the waterborne pathogen, Legionella. Slow moving or stagnant water allows the bacteria, which can cause the highly contagious, atypical pneumonia Legionnaire’s disease, to multiply. Unused air-conditioning and cooling tower systems, many of which have been idle in recent months, pose a particular public health risk.
Thermo Fisher is now distributing the qualyfast Legionella range of sample preparation and qPCR detection kits which have been developed and manufactured by Bioside.
The qualyfast Legionella PCR range offers environmental testing laboratories a complete sample-to-answer workflow that can deliver accurate results in hours rather than days, when compared to more conventional culture media-based methods. This enables laboratories to give businesses the all-clear for Legionella and help them to get back to work in record time.
The kits, which are stable at room temperature, offer a simple and easy-to-use workflow including:
- water sample preparation to eliminate common environmental contaminant-driven false negatives
- rapid and sensitive qPCR detection technology provided as pre-dosed and lyophilized reagents to enable confident identification or exclusion of Legionella species and Legionella pneumophila in samples
- quantification standards for accurate and reproducible test results
Bernd Hofmann, vice president of global marketing at Thermo Fisher, said: “These are uncertain times for businesses as the world attempts to get to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of a prolonged shut down period, they need to get operations – and revenue streams – back up and running as quickly as possible. Cutting the Legionella testing time from days to hours will help them to do just that.
“The addition of qPCR Legionella detection kits to our range significantly enhances our ability to meet the needs of laboratories testing for Legionella in water. It provides our customers with rapid and sensitive testing solutions for managing the risk to human health posed by Legionella bacteria.”
Bioside co-founders, Francesca Piemonti, CEO, and Michela Savoldi Boles, CTO, said: “Our mission is to develop and manufacture innovative, ready-to-use diagnostic products that truly tackle unmet need. With the qualyfast Legionella PCR range, laboratories can easily and conveniently work with organizations affected by COVID-related shutdowns to re-open their doors quickly and safely.”