Covid-19 test by saliva.
Covid-19 test by saliva
Saliva based covid-19 test:-
Jamia Millia researchers along with experts develop a saliva based covid-19 testing kit .This saliva based covid-19 kit can detect covid-19 results within an hour.
The team of scientists from MCARS (model civil aviation regulation) at Jamia Millia Islamia along with experts of other institutes has developed an RNA extraction free process by which covid-19 test can be done in an hour i.e., saliva based covid-19 detection technology.
The symptomic patient can put the saliva sample in the kit and result will appear with in an hour.
The researches are also trying to link the kit to mobile application so that if person don’t infer the kit the result will be notified to the person through application
This technology is named as MI-SEHAT (Mobile Integrated Sensitive Estimation and High- specificity Application for Testing) and can be used as POC (point of care) device for COVID-19 detection in the field with a provision for at-home testing .
Dr Mohan C Joshi , an expert who is part of the team, claimed that the smartphone-enabled POC (point of care) prototype has been developed and validated using synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA , which displays results within an hour without the intervention of a technical expert.
He also added that “ in such a difficult time when the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19 remains the effective measure to contain and manage the viral spread, cost-effective rapid testing of SARS-CoV-2 RNA remains the gold standard”.
“The available standalone or integrated PCR-based detection kit remains confined to the sophisticated instrumental diagnostic laboratory setup and takes minimum two to three hours in providing the result with the need for error- prone RNA extraction step,” he said.
PhD students, MD Iqbal Azmi and Md Imam Faizan at MCARS ( model civil aviation regulations) , JMI have benchmarked all the experiments in the laboratory which has helped the team to develop the prototype.
Jamia Millia Islamia, Vice Chancellor Professor Najma Akhtar said being a user-friendly technology, MI-SEHAT will encourage home testing and thus will restrict interaction and movement of COVID-19 positive patients outside the home.
“Further, it will reduce exposure of our healthcare professionals to COVID-19 positive patients who are directly or indirectly engaged in testing,” she said
what is saliva test for covid-19:-
There are two types of tests for Covid-19.
Which detects the virus itself, includes the RT-PCR test and the antigen test.
In this test nose and throat swabs are used as the sampling technique. After the swab is removed, the sample is placed in a viral transport media and is preserved for analysis.
It is the serological test, which looks for antibodies developed by the body against the virus. This determines if a person has been exposed to the infection, and is used for surveillance of infection in a community.
Researchers have developed the saliva test as a low-cost alternative; the suspected patient has only to spit into the kit and it will display the result within an hour.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF SALIVA TEST:
.Can be done by unskilled workers too:-
Saliva “does not require a certified swab and collection receptacle and does not necessarily have to be obtained by a skilled healthcare provider, both of which increase diagnostic-associated costs”.
A saliva test is reported to be prone to less error than has been reported in nasal swab collection, which sometimes give false negatives.
The covid test kit that can detect virus by the sample of saliva can give you the resukt within one hour.
The test is less invasive than a procedure that goes to the back of the nose to collect the swab. It is also safer for healthcare workers who collect the swab. Inserting the swab into the back of the nose often results in sneezing and coughing. Spectrum Solution claims that use of saliva kits delivers an over 90% reduction in PPE usage compared to current swab collections for Covid-19 testing.
It is a convenient option that does not require travelling to a hospital or lab.
APART FROM SAMPLING METHOD, HOW SALIVA TEST IS DIFFERENT FROM RT-PCR :-
Like RT-PCR, a saliva test too converts the virus RNA into DNA, then amplifies the DNA to detect presence of the virus
Nasopharyngeal swab and saliva samples were simultaneously collected from patients suspicious of COVID-19 and those with the diagnosis of COVID-19.
To collect nasopharyngeal samples, the swab was passed through the nostril until reaching the posterior nasopharynx and removed while rotating. While in Saliva test saliva is self-collected by the patients in the kit.
In diagnosis of covid-19 PCR testing of nasopharyngeal swab samples. However, swab sample collection requires specialized medical personnel with protective equipment and poses a risk of viral transmission. Whereas in saliva test there is no risk factor of transmission of virus. Patient can do test of covid-19 at home by themselves.
Originally published at https://beinghealthy-2020.blogspot.com on October 7, 2020.
