In a new study, researchers have been able to detect positive COVID-19 cases using blood samples in about 20 minutes, and identify whether someone has contracted the virus.
In a discovery that could advance the worldwide effort to limit the community spread of COVID-19 through robust contact tracing, the researchers could identify recent COVID-19 cases using 25 microlitres of plasma from blood samples.
The research was conducted by a team at Monash University in Australia and elsewhere.
The team developed a simple agglutination assay—an analysis to determine the presence and amount of a substance in blood—to detect the presence of antibodies raised in response to the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Positive COVID-19 cases caused an agglutination or a clustering of red blood cells, which was easily identifiable to the naked eye. They were able to retrieve positive or negative readings in about 20 minutes.
While the current swab / PCR tests are used to identify people who are currently positive with COVID-19, the agglutination assay can determine whether someone had been recently infected once the infection is resolved—and could potentially be used to detect antibodies raised in response to vaccination to aid clinical trials.
Using a simple lab setup, this discovery could see medical practitioners across the world testing up to 200 blood samples an hour.
At some hospitals with high-grade diagnostic machines, more than 700 blood samples could be tested hourly—about 16,800 each day.
Study findings could help high-risk countries with population screening, case identification, contact tracing, confirming vaccine efficacy during clinical trials, and vaccine distribution.
A patent for the innovation has been filed and researchers are seeking commercial and government support to upscale production.
COVID-19 has caused a worldwide viral pandemic, contributing to nearly 600,000 deaths and more than 13.8 million cases reported internationally. Australia has reported 10,810 cases and 113 deaths, as of July 17, 2020.
One author of the study is Dr. Simon Corrie. The study is published in ACS Sensors.
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