Single prick diagnostic test for Ebola developed

London

Scientists have come up the world's first single-prick diagnostic test for Ebola with quick and instant results unlike laboratory results.

The new rapid diagnostic test (RDT) can detect the Ebola virus with a drop of blood. Scientists will announce in the British medical journal Lancet today that point-of-care EVD test (ReEBOV Antigen Rapid Test; Corgenix) is faster.

Dr Nira Pollock from the Infectious Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory at the Boston Children's Hospital said the researchers compared the diagnostic accuracy of the new RDT against the standard RT-PCR test.

Around 106 suspected Ebola patients in Sierra Leone were tested by both RDT (performed on a fingerstick blood sample at the point-of-care) and by RT-PCR (performed on plasma in the laboratory).

The finding says, “The RDT detected all confirmed cases of EVD that were positive by RT-PCR in both point-of-care and laboratory testing , with sensitivity of 100%.“