The inexpensive, simple-to-use test could miss out on as many as 4 in 10 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Its designers argue that as part of triage for believed cases, the test could help save scarce resources for more delicate laboratory testing.
At the time of writing, SARS-CoV-2– the coronavirus that triggers COVID-19– has infected 4.2 million people around the world and caused more than 291,000 deaths.
One of the main weapons being utilized to curb the spread of the virus is testing for infection.
But the capability of healthcare systems to carry out the most delicate, trusted laboratory test for the infection is limited, and there have been worldwide problems with the supply of reagents. In addition, it can take 1– 2 days for outcomes of a lab test to come back.
Easy-to-use point-of-care tests, which give a result in under 30 minutes without the requirement to send out the sample to a lab, use a cheap alternative.
The tests are based on a monoclonal antibody that latches onto a viral antigen, which is a particular part of a protein on the surface of the infection.
Compared with lab-based testing, point-of-care tests are less delicate. They are more likely to miss cases of the infection, offering an outcome called an incorrect negative.
However, as part of a triage system, point-of-care tests could take a few of the pressure off medical facility labs at the peak of an outbreak by quickly evaluating large numbers of individuals who might have symptoms constant with a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
In recommendations released on April 8, 2020, the World Health Company (WHO) backed the use of such tests in concept, offering that their effectiveness can be developed:
” If any of the antigen detection tests that are under advancement or commercialized show adequate efficiency, they might potentially be utilized as triage tests to quickly recognize patients who are most likely to have COVID-19, lowering or eliminating the need for costly molecular [lab-based] confirmatory screening.”
A Belgian biotech business called Coris BioConcept has developed a new point-of-care test by repurposing a test originally established to detect the carefully associated coronavirus SARS-CoV, which triggers the respiratory infection SARS.
Called “COVID-19 Ag Respi-Strip,” the test is only commercially offered to health care services. It is not for sale to the public.
Like a home pregnancy test, it is a “lateral flow test,” comprising a reagent strip enclosed in plastic housing. If the test is favorable, a colored band appears at a significant test line.
Researchers evaluated the level of sensitivity and uniqueness of the brand-new test versus the gold-standard laboratory test for SARS-CoV-2, which utilizes the extremely delicate polymerase chain reaction to discover hereditary product of the virus.
In a study paper released in Fronti