Yale University researcher Anne Wyllie told CNBC on Tuesday that the new saliva-based test for coronavirus may not always detect people who have really low levels of infection.
“There’s more chance we’ll miss that very, very low viral load, so if the virus only starts to take up in an individual,” Wyllie said on “Squawk Box.”
But that potential weakness can be offset by regular testing, Wyllie emphasizes.
“We want to test that often. So if you get tested twice a week – even better if you can get tested more often – you may miss one day if you have very, very low amounts of the virus in you. But if “that viral load is starting to increase, because if you test it often, we’ll pick it up soon next time,” she said.
Yale describes her test, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday, as “simpler, less expensive, and less invasive” than just nasal swab tests. In a press release, Yale said he hopes to make testing more available by keeping costs low and developing a test that can be processed faster.
The Yale test was developed in collaboration with the NBA and its players’ union, which provided more than $ 500,000 in funding, according to ESPN. The test was used on NBA players and staff in the run-up to the restart of the league in Florida.
Results of Yale’s investigation of his test have not yet been peer reviewed.
Wyllie, an associate research scientist in epidemiology, said the Yale test has the ability to detect the coronavirus that is “very similar to many of the other traditional [polymerase chain reaction] tests that are already there. “
PCR tests, which detect genetic material of a virus, are considered to be the most accurate type on the market. The Yale test relies on PCR, but simplifies the process.
The sensitivity of Yale’s test decreases somewhat in patients who have lower levels of the virus, Wyllie said. “It’s about 90% sensitive in patients. About 88% to 90% in asymptomatic, healthy individuals,” she added.
Sensitivity is the rate at which a test will identify someone who has the virus.
The US response to the coronavirus pandemic has been hampered by testing challenges, including supply chain shortages and delays in turnaround time for results. Tests that are more accessible and can give fast results however and yet accurately are seen as equally important as communities try to open workplaces and schools.
Wyllie notes that the Yale test is not one of the so-called rapid tests that can produce results in 10 to 15 minutes, for example. Saliva monsters have yet to go to a lab. But because of the way the test was designed, she said labs should be able to perform more samples than other variations.
“We hope we can, perhaps in some situations, see results of the same day. If not, what we are really striving for is to get below that 24-hour time frame that we simply do not see in many places at the moment,” she said. .
Yale hopes its test can be introduced more widely in U.S. laboratories in a few months, Wyllie said. Labs should contact Yale so that the university “can ensure it is properly set up, to ensure they have the available equipment.”
“So I hope that, at least in the next month, we will see more and more labs rolling this out, starting to make it available,” she said. “Clearly, we actually just need more testing at the moment.”
Dr Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday that he believes Yale University’s saliva-based coronavirus test is a major development in the United States’ pandemic response. “It’s easy to use. It’s likely not to be restricted due to deficiencies in the test supply chain,” the former FDA chief added. “It’s something we can roll out in a very broad way.”
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