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 The researchers at Monash University said their test can determine
if someone is currently infected and if they have been infected in
the past.
"Short-term applications include rapid case identification and
contact tracing to limit viral spread, while population screening to
determine the extent of viral infection across communities is a
longer-term need," the researchers said in a paper published in the
journal ACS Sensors on Friday.
The research team was led by BioPRIA and Monash University’s
Chemical Engineering Department, including researchers from the ARC
Centre of Excellence in Convergent BioNano Science and Technology (CBNS).
Their test, using 25 microlitres of plasma from blood samples, looks
for agglutination, or a clustering of red blood cells, that the
coronavirus causes.
While the current swab test is used to identify people who are
infected with the coronavirus, the agglutination assay - or analysis
to detect the presence and amount of a substance in blood - can also
determine if someone had been recently infected, after the infection
is resolved, they said.
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Hundreds of samples can be tested every hour, the researchers said, and they
hope it can also be used to detect antibodies raised in response to vaccination
to aid clinical trials.
A patent for the innovation has been filed and the researchers are seeking
commercial and government support to scale up production.
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 13.8 million people around the
world and killed nearly 600,000 since it emerged in China late last year.
Australia has reported more than 11,000 cases and 116 deaths.
(Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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