Departing from that problem, Institut Teknologi Bandung and PT. Bio Farma (Persero) conduct a study and develop diagnostic kits for detection of Hepatitis B virus in serum or blood plasma. There are 10 researchers involved in the research, led by Ernawati Arifin Giri-Rachman M.Si., Ph.D and funded by LPDP (Endowment Fund for Education). One of the researchers, Meutia Diva Hakim said that by using the kit, the infection status can be obtained immediately and accurately without using expensive import kit. “The plus point of this diagnostic kit is that the main components are self-developed, from the antibody to other important components,” She said on Thursday (5/6/2018).

This 2012 SITH (School of Life Sciences and Technology) ITB graduate explained that there are two diagnostic kits that have been developed in the meantime, diagnostic kit to detect infection of Hepatitis B, and diagnostic kit to test the success of Hepatitis B vaccination. These diagnostic kits are developed together because they are important for prevention and therapy. “Suppose that after being checked with the first diagnostic kit there is no Hepatitis B infection detected, vaccination will be given to prevent infection. Then, the second kit is used to test the success of vaccination,” the young researcher continued. Current test result show that the diagnostic kits have equal sensitivity, accuracy, and reliability with available import kit. It is expected that in the near future both diagnostic kits they developed will be commercialized.

Reporter: Adi Permana