The trivalent swab, an important novelty that comes from an Italian research laboratory. After the traditional Covid 19 molecular swab, after the quick antigenic swab, after the DIY swab, here is the "three in one" pad. The IRCCS Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital of Negrar, in the province of Verona, is among the first health facilities in Italy to have introduced the multiplex swab, a single test for the search for three viruses. It is a molecular test thanks to which it is possible to distinguish if the person who has undergone the swab is suffering from SARS-COV-2, or from flu virus (type A or B) or from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV-A and B) responsible for bronchiolitis and pneumonia in very young children.
Three different viruses with practically the same symptoms. Since last November 4th, the Negrar hospital has already carried out 4000 new trivalent swabs, on average 500 swabs a day with peaks of up to 700. The requests come in particular from the province of Verona. An area currently still in the yellow zone but practically surrounded by territories classified as a red zone. 13 percent of the tests carried out were positive for Covid while the flu virus is still practically absent.
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Il new diagnostic approach, initiated by Laboratory of Infectious and Tropical Diseases of the Negrar hospital, responds to the need to have a differentiated diagnosis, which is fundamental in this period of the year when the three viruses, which have overlapping symptoms, can coexist. The multiplex test is a nasopharyngeal swab. A molecular analysis is carried out on the sample taken and the result is ready in 24 hours. There are three main advantages. With a single swab you save inconvenience to patients, the microbiology laboratories are clogged to a lesser extent, there is no additional cost compared to a single Covid swab.
Negrar hospital is offering "a blanket" to all those who need to swab for SARS-CoV-2, the new test "Three in one". To take the test, you just need to have a referral from the general practitioner. The cost is that of the ticket. If the swab is carried out privately, the cost for the patient is 70 euros. “This novelty represents a significant advantage from a clinical point of view and also from a public health point of view - he explains Federico Gobbi, infectious disease specialist of the Department of Infectious and Tropoical Diseases of the IRCCS of Negrar - Allows timely discernment of people affected by SARS COV2 infection who need to undergo fiduciary isolation and report close contacts. Furthermore, the threefold result of the swab allows further investigations to be launched quickly in the event that the report excludes the three viruses ".
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“We are not yet in the middle of the flu season - he adds Francesca Perandin, biologist and head of the Laboratory -but among all the 4000 people subjected to multiplex swab, with a study and a sweep analysis, we have not so far recorded a single case of influenza.
We think that the main measures put in place, to break the chain of contagions from Coronavirus, can also help reduce other respiratory infections that can spread with droplets, the famous droplets produced when we breathe or speak ". This new test could therefore also be valuable in the event that vaccine doses are insufficient or there are delays in vaccination. The exclusion of one or the other disease at the same time could also have an extremely significant impact on the efficiency and resilience of public health.
