This could really be the new frontier of diagnosis on the Coronavirus. Research made it possible to invent a particular test. It could happen, in fact, to discover that you have the Coronavirus like when you find out you are pregnant. In the paradox of this statement, there is a grain of truth. Because science, in these weeks of great steps forward to study and test a vaccine against Covid, is also evaluating this possibility. What are we talking about? Of a very simple quick salivary test, which can detect in a very short time, just like a pregnancy test, the positivity to Covid. The study is all Italian, carried out by two researchers, and would be giving the first results.
Two researchers and the progress of the study
The new diagnostic tool was created by a team from the University of Insubria and the Asst dei Sette Laghi. The idea is by Lorenzo Azzi, researcher of Dentistry, and Mauro Fasano, professor of Biochemistry. To coordinate the Research the rector Angelo Tagliabue, professor of Odontostomatology, and Paolo Grossi, infectious disease specialist. The reagents and kits were made by the Insubria laboratories in Busto Arsizio, under the supervision of the researcher Tiziana Alberio.
The test of the two Italian researchers, here's how it works
The test, which works like a simple swab, consists in applying on a small strip of absorbent paper a few drops of saliva diluted with a solution. The result within six minutes. And like a pregnancy test if a band forms the subject is negative; two bands, on the other hand, are positive.
The experimentation in Varese
The researchers conducted the experimentation in the Microbiology laboratory directed by Fausto Sessa at the Circolo Hospital in Varese. Samples of 137 subjects analyzed from April 16 to May 4. Two tests for evaluation: molecular and experimental. “The rapid test is simple and safe to use - explains Lorenzo Azzi - and allows immediate first level screening of the population. The aim is to identify positive subjects, especially asymptomatic carriers of the virus, to be sent later to perform the reference diagnostic tests which, based on molecular methods, require the laboratory with longer processing times ".
The NatrixLab of Reggio Emilia will be in charge of the production. Only certification is needed and in this case the times could be long. "Our salivary test - notes Fasano - is so simple that it can actually be used by anyone, but the certification for autonomous use takes a very long time, while it takes only 15 days to get the one under medical supervision. So the test, like the serological one, will initially be managed by a health professional, who collaborates for example with the police for checks, or with a company that wants to subject employees to the examination. And we hope that it will also be made available to general practitioners ".
