[ad_1]
Vladimir Ivanovo (VŽ) nuotr.
Researchers in several countries are experimenting with the development of coronavirus tests that would cause less inconvenience to researchers and would be faster than so-called PCR tests to detect viral genetic material (RNA). Researchers at a Turkish university say they have been successful, Euronews reports.
Researchers at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, have announced the development of a new diagnostic product, Diagnovir, which uses nanotechnology to detect COVID-19 in the body of a patient.
Ali Aytac Seyman, a researcher at the Euronews National Center for Nanotechnology Research, explains that saliva is first removed from the patient’s mouth, mixed with a special solution and applied to a pathogen detection chip.
“The study results are really extremely accurate,” summarizes A. Seyman.
The important thing is that the test result is clear after 5-10 seconds if it is positive, and it takes up to 20 seconds when the test result is negative. At that time, patients now have to wait much longer to get the results of the PCR test.
The Turkish researchers hope that the new test will be approved by the responsible authorities soon and that mass production of the Diagnovir test will begin in the coming months. The new product is expected to eventually replace PCR testing.
Two ways
To diagnose the coronavirus in time and control the spread of the virus, two test methods are currently used in Lithuania: molecular and serological. They detect different rates of coronavirus infection.
Molecular tests identify viral genetic material (RNA) and are commonly called genetic or PCR tests. Molecular tests show if a person is infected with the virus at the time of the test and if they are a possible carrier of the disease.
To diagnose and cure the disease in time and prevent it from spreading, these tests are performed first on coronavirus-like symptoms when a person has a fever, cough, or shortness of breath.
These tests are most informative when done early in the infection, in the first week of infection.
The test is performed by taking a sample from the nasopharynx, because the virus enters the human body in a drop of air, through the respiratory tract. In the cells of the respiratory tract, the virus multiplies, so that viral RNA can be detected in the sample.
At the same time, rapid serological tests examine the patient’s blood products for the human immune response to the virus, antibodies that have formed in the human body as the immune response to the coronavirus infection develops. These tests make it possible to see more clearly the epidemiological panorama of the country, control the spread of this infection, assess how many people are already sick and what measures could be taken to better manage the disease.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the use of rapid serological tests to diagnose coronavirus infection is not recommended because there are currently insufficient studies on their reliability.
Rapid tests are most informative in the second week of infection, when the immune response to the virus is activated. For the test, blood samples are taken and analyzed, where the formed antibodies circulate.
Write a comment
[ad_2]
