Oct 13, 2020 10:51 AM ET
iCrowd Newswire – Oct 13, 2020
Assay Kit for COVID-19: Understanding the Coronavirus Testing Methods
COVID-19 number of cases continues to grow in different countries. One of the factors to help identify and control the emergence of the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the globe is through tests. Testing is vital to calculate accurate infection and survival rates.
Fortunately, a variety of different testing kits are now available in hospitals and laboratories because they are gaining more emergency approval every day.
The availability of tests is now critical, and supplies are limited since positive tests are continually reporting new cases every week. People are being offered testing kits for sale from private clinics with higher prices or the fake tests that are not officially approved.
Some of the testing kits are coming online now, but some of the tests take months to validate. As the virus becomes widespread, more people need to test to identify and isolate those with the disease quickly.
The outbreak of COVID -19, which was previously named as 2019 novel coronavirus, a disease from China is becoming more globally pandemic to the public health issue. To diagnose the coronavirus infection, researchers developed and launched the first rapid point-of-care lateral flow immunoassay.
Assay kits
The assay is used to investigate procedures in a clinical laboratory, environmental, and molecular biology. When we talk about molecular biology, techniques include DNA microarrays, combined with PCR, and Cell fractionation or Immunoprecipitation.
Immunoprecipitation requests the antibody to be incorporated into a solid substrate at some point in the procedure. The assay kit is based on lateral flow chromatographic immunoassay. This kit is used in scientific research such as drug developments, studying disease pathways, and screening of the potential drug candidates for the disease.
Why Do We Need Antibody Testing?
There are two significant methods of diagnosing viral infections. Those are the RT-qPCR and IgG/IgM. RT-qPCR (Reverse Transcription Quarantine Polymerase Chain Reaction) is a highly sensitive test for Covid-19. Critically, the global needs for a serology assay that can complement nucleic acid(PCR) test for diagnosing the coronavirus infection. The PCR is done during the brief window, accurate infection after it becomes negative.
The RT-qPCR test needs high-quality nasopharyngeal swabs that contain enough viral RNA. This method is not an easy process because the amount of viral RNA not only changes between the patients, but it can also vary within the same patient, it will depend on its timing, start of infection or symptoms. To perform the RNA extraction and the PCR, it requires trained personnel.
False-negative results from RT-qPCR are typical. From the experience of health care experts, some of their patients who have been infected by the disease test negative results in the RT-qPCR method. False-negative results can break the efforts of the health workers to stop the spread of the virus. The infected patients may return to work, go home with their families, and may infect others.
IgG/IgM is a serological immunoassay that detects viral-specific antibodies and offers several advantages over RT-qPCR. The method of this test will detect human antibodies, which are common to be more stable than viral RNA. IgG/IgM serological specimens were less sensitive to degradation during transport, collection, storage, and testing than RT-qPCR specimens.
Antibodies are equally distributed in the blood. The serological specimens have fewer variations than nasopharyngeal viral RNA specimens. It can be easily collected with phlebotomy in the patient. Serological tests can detect previous infections due to antibody-specific viruses, while the viral RNA may persist in the blood for several weeks/months after the symptoms begin. Through online, you can find the qualified, affordable Coronavirus test kit (COVID-19 IgG/IgM) that is also used by the health care professionals to fight against Coronavirus.
What Is Antibody Serologic testing?
Antibody testing or also called serologic for COVID-19. It has many speculations about its value. After the infection, it is typical to develop a response from the antibody against the pathogen. After the first week of infection, a type of antibody will develop, which is typically known as immunoglobulin M (IgM), but it won’t last long.
After the first two until four weeks of the infection, the more durable antibodies (IgG) are produced. The detection of micro-specific IgG and IgM in circulating blood (serological test) will serve as the method to know if the person has been infected with the pathogen ( IgG or IgM).
Takeaway
Although supplies and tests are increasing, it is still challenging to find the best place to get tested. If you have active symptoms of COVID-19, call a health care provider to help you guide for the different test procedures. The serological test can provide the information if you have the infection. This method can help researchers in understanding how humans produce antibodies against the virus. Hopefully, vaccines and medicines against COVID-19 will be available in the near future.
