Healthcare news | The Covid-19 pandemic has put Pharmaceutical industry in the circumstances unlike ever seen. With the huge population and it medical demands it becoming overwhelming for the industry to keep the supply in accordance with the demand of the world. Under these circumstances, any cost effective, timely solution to this problem is worth considering. One of these cost-effective solutions comes in the form of a Bangladeshi scientist by creating a 3$ kit to detect Covid-19.
Dot-blots kits
The standard way to detect the presence of the virus is by use of testing kits that are able to identify the genome of the virus causing COVID-19. Hence the virus is accurately detected by its genomic structure by a method known as Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction also called RT-PCR. What’s important to know about these Dot-Blot kits is that it does not identify the Virus’s genome, it looks for the anti-bodies that are created in human body in response to the virus.
As the virus enters into the body and attaches itself to the throat, it creates infected cells that further help the virus to multiply in the body. As the viral infection increases, the white blood cells in human body create certain anti-bodies to fight this disease. The anti-bodies created to fight the COVID-19 Virus are specific in nature and can be detected by this Dot-blot kit. The kit uses the saliva, sputum and blood serum from the infected person for detection.
The researchers claim that the kit can detect the corona virus in just 15 mins. Since the existing number of COVID-19 testing kits in the country is very small compared to its huge population, the regulatory authorities have given an approval for the mass production of this Dot-blot kit in hopes of easing the Medical Healthcare institutions in these times. Along its cost and time effective nature, it has some downside to it as well.
Anti-bodies
As the test detects only the anti-bodies, the accurate identification can only be made when the Human body creates anti-bodies against this virus. It is believed that these antibodies are created after the 72 hours of the virus’s infiltration in human body. So the timing of the sampling is very crucial in identifying this virus also the immune system response rate and other factors involved. It is argued that the test from this method can bear false positive or negative results which can be very disturbing for the medical industry and governments aiming to curb its spread.
There is no denying that the RT-PCR method is not feasible for COVID-19 testing of current population for its high cost and limited supply.  Hence, there is a dire need of a test that will incorporate the grey areas. Maybe its not the best solution for identification but with devising careful strategy authorities can find out a way to make the most of the resources available at hand to stop the curb of this deadly disease.
