Recent Trends in the Development of Paper-Based Diagnostic Chips for the Detection of Human Viruses

Viral diseases account for a significant portion of global public health expenditure, and the methodologies for their rapid diagnosis are still under development. The existing diagnostic strategies for viral infections are expensive and time-consuming and provide results that may have minimal clinical impact. Hence, there is a significant interest in developing portable and inexpensive diagnostic platforms for various viral diseases and testing at point-of-care (POC) settings. This would help patients in availing timely therapy to avoid future difficulties, thus benefiting the public health sector and helping gather sufficient data for epidemiological studies to put a stop to outbreaks and epidemics involving such diseases. Among the strategies being developed, paper-based diagnostic devices have caught the attention of many researchers owing to advantages like low cost, easy handling, being disposable, and being usable at POC settings. The aim of this review is to discuss the importance of paper-based devices and recent developments in fabrication methodologies.