|
 Testing
facilities in Amsterdam were this week the first to start using the
SpiroNose, a machine which requires a person to breathe into it to
indicate a possible coronavirus infection within a minute.
After months of trials, Dutch health authorities found the SpiroNose
to be reliable in the case of negative test results, infectious
disease expert Mariken van der Lubben of Amsterdam's municipal
health services told Reuters.
"If you are negatively tested, then it's a very reliable outcome and
you can go," Van der Lubben said.
A positive test needed to be followed by a regular polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) test to establish whether the detected infection was
caused by a coronavirus.
The Dutch health service has ordered around 1,800 machines with
plans to introduce them in test facilities across the country in
coming months.
"It's a promising technology, especially because of the speed, you
can get a result within a minute," Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst
said.
"That's a game changer, if you can make a rapid diagnosis or rule
out an infection within a minute." But he added: "We don't have
enough results yet to unequivocally say this is the future, this is
the way to go."
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Van Ranst said lengthy test periods comparing the breath test with
the PCR test would be necessary to see whether the test could also
make the distinction between different types of viruses.
Dutch health tech company Breathomix, which originally developed the
machine to detect asthma and lung cancer, said it had collected
enough data to reliably spot a possible coronavirus infection.
"In the past couple of months we have measured thousands of patients
with corona and people who don't have corona, so we know what is the
average breath profile of corona and people without corona,"
Breathomix executive Rianne de Vries said.
Breathomix is investigating options to use the SpiroNose in
companies or schools, De Vries said, to help them create a safe
environment.
But the machine will not offer a direct solution for reopening
venues to large audiences, she said, as every test takes 2-3 minutes
from start to finish. The machine is also sensitive to alcohol,
smoke and other distracting factors in a person's breath.
(Reporting by Esther Verkaik; Writing by Bart Meijer; Editing by
Janet Lawrence)
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