Sam Brusco, Associate Editor02.12.21
PCR testing is the most accurate tool to identify SARS-CoV-2, but valid results often take days. The lab must also be well equipped, with trained personnel and sufficient financial resources. This is usually a problem in Africa.
A portable suitcase could help—scientists at Leipzig University and several African universities have developed a mini-laboratory that provides results almost equal to a PCR test, and almost in real time.
The compact case could generate rapid COVID-19 test results in regions of Africa where testing facilities and medical infrastructure fall far short of European standards. The case is a small, mobile laboratory equipped with a diagnostic device, solar power supply, various reagents, some reference RNA extracts, and rubber gloves.
"With this tool, a so-called RPA test can be done directly on site, even in the most remote areas. It takes only 15 minutes to get a result," virologist and Leipzig University study leader Dr. Ahmed Abd El Wahed from the Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health told the press.
In the first Leipzig University study, genome analysis (RPA method, recombinase polymerase amplification) was used to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection almost in real time, with 94 percent accuracy.
"A saliva sample or a nasal swab is sufficient for the test and all reagents can be used at room temperature," said Dr. Abd El Wahed.
This method has already been successfully evaluated for several other infectious diseases—for example in Guinea in 2015, during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The mobile suitcase lab for COVID-19 has already been implemented in Egypt, Ghana, and Senegal, as well as in five other African countries: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda. Results are now being evaluated in further studies.
The exact SARS-CoV-2 RPA assay performance will be determined and compared to PCR assays. If results are comparable, as preliminary data seems to suggest, the suitcase laboratory could soon be increasingly used in the clinical field to detect SARS-CoV-2.
Find more information on the study here!
A portable suitcase could help—scientists at Leipzig University and several African universities have developed a mini-laboratory that provides results almost equal to a PCR test, and almost in real time.
The compact case could generate rapid COVID-19 test results in regions of Africa where testing facilities and medical infrastructure fall far short of European standards. The case is a small, mobile laboratory equipped with a diagnostic device, solar power supply, various reagents, some reference RNA extracts, and rubber gloves.
"With this tool, a so-called RPA test can be done directly on site, even in the most remote areas. It takes only 15 minutes to get a result," virologist and Leipzig University study leader Dr. Ahmed Abd El Wahed from the Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health told the press.
In the first Leipzig University study, genome analysis (RPA method, recombinase polymerase amplification) was used to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection almost in real time, with 94 percent accuracy.
"A saliva sample or a nasal swab is sufficient for the test and all reagents can be used at room temperature," said Dr. Abd El Wahed.
This method has already been successfully evaluated for several other infectious diseases—for example in Guinea in 2015, during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The mobile suitcase lab for COVID-19 has already been implemented in Egypt, Ghana, and Senegal, as well as in five other African countries: The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda. Results are now being evaluated in further studies.
The exact SARS-CoV-2 RPA assay performance will be determined and compared to PCR assays. If results are comparable, as preliminary data seems to suggest, the suitcase laboratory could soon be increasingly used in the clinical field to detect SARS-CoV-2.
Find more information on the study here!
