15 minutes or less: new Ebola test on trial in W Africa

Health News

A new Ebola test that can diagnose the virus 6 times faster than the current methods will undergo trials at a clinic in Conakry, Guinea, international health group The Wellcome Trust – which will fund the trial along with the British government – said Friday. Researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Dakar, Senegal hope that the test can be used by health workers to identify Ebola patients faster and isolate and treat them sooner. “A reliable, 15-minute test that can confirm cases of Ebola would be a key tool for effective management of the Ebola outbreak,” Val Snewin international activities manager at the Trust said. “It not only gives patients a better chance of survival, but it prevents transmission of the virus to other people.”

The scientists will use a laptop-sized portable lab (labtop?) with a solar panel, a power pack, and a results reader. The equipment has been designed for use in impoverished rural areas where electricity is not widely available. To detect the genetic material of the virus, the test uses reagent substances in the form of dried pellets that need not cold storage. By contrast, current tests need dedicated laboratories that can store the components of the test at low temperatures in order to hunt for the genetic material of the virus in the patient’s blood.

The proven and experimental tests will be conducted simultaneously so that results can be collated at in real time. “This pilot study is particularly promising because researchers have considered how to make the test suitable for use in remote field hospitals, where resources – such as electricity and cold storage – are often in short supply,” Snewin said. International Development Secretary for the UK Justine Greeenberg added that “the UK is doing everything possible to help the government of Sierra Leone tackle and ultimately defeat Ebola. Funding this groundbreaking research will develop new ways of diagnosing suspected cases even more quickly and stop more people suffering from this deadly virus.”

Related Read:

New 15-minute test for Ebola to undergo trials in West Africa.

Ebola test offering 15-minute results on trial in Guinea.

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