[University of Tehran] Researchers Create 30-Second Phlegm Test to Detect Covid-19

Science is moving at a rapid pace to respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic. In recent months, researchers have developed tests to detect covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, using different substances such as saliva. Now, there’s apparently another substance that can tell us whether someone has covid-19, sputum, commonly known as phlegm.

Researchers at the University of Tehran have developed a test they say is capable of detecting the virus in phlegm. The test uses an electrochemical diagnostic system, also developed by the researchers, to detect reactive oxygen species—unstable molecules that contain oxygen and whose build-up can damage RNA, DNA and proteins and cause cell death—produced by respiratory inflammation. The system is called the ROS Detector in Sputum Sample.

In a recent interview with IEEE Spectrum, Mohammad Abdolahad, an associate professor at the College of Engineering at the University of Tehran, said there are currently no widely available, reliable and fast testing methods for the virus, which he considers a crucial tool for stopping its spread. Results for molecular tests, which are considered highly accurate by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, can take a day or up to week. Antigen tests, also known as rapid tests, offer results in an hour or less, but are not as accurate. (The FDA says that negative results may need to be confirmed with a molecular test).

Abdolahad led a team of undergraduate and postdoctoral candidates at the university in the development of the test and system.

“Consequently, we have developed a fast method to screen for respiratory inflammation [in] real-time,” Abdolahad told the outlet. “The test can also help inform doctors if the patient has an increased chance of contracting COVID-19. Respiratory diseases can make a patient immunoresistant and by being diagnosed, the patient now knows that she needs to take additional steps in order to protect herself against coronavirus.”

Courtesy of GIZMODO

https://gizmodo.com/researchers-create-30-second-phlegm-test-to-detect-covi-1845479163