Head of the institute's laboratory of dengue-arbo viruses Truong Uyen Linh said the new kit, called MAC-ELISA can diagnose dengue earlier and more accurately than the old method and will help epidemiologists prevent the development of the disease.

Mr Linh said after the initial success, scientists from the institute, in collaboration with their colleagues from the Vietnam Biological Technology Institute, will be able to get results in 15 or 20 minutes after the test.

The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has supplied hundreds of kits to provinces in the northern central region and Central Highlands region. The kit is available for US$35, one-tenth of the cost of similar foreign-made kits and the quality of the kit has been acknowledged by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention of the US and Nagasaki Medical School in Japan, Mr Linh noted.

VNA