The
researchers at Monash University said their test can determine if someone is
currently infected and if they have been infected in the past.
“Short-term
applications include rapid case identification and contact tracing to limit
viral spread, while population screening to determine the extent of viral
infection across communities is a longer-term need,” the researchers said in a
paper published in the journal ACS Sensors on Friday.
The
research team was led by BioPRIA and Monash University’s Chemical Engineering
Department, including researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence in
Convergent BioNano Science and Technology (CBNS).
Their
test, using 25 micro-litres of plasma from blood samples, looks for
agglutination, or a clustering of red blood cells, that the coronavirus causes.
While the
current swab test is used to identify people who are infected with the
coronavirus, the agglutination assay — or analysis to detect the presence and
amount of a substance in blood — can also determine if someone had been
recently infected, after the infection is resolved, they said.
Hundreds
of samples can be tested every hour, the researchers said, and they hope it can
also be used to detect antibodies raised in response to vaccination to aid
clinical trials.
A patent
for the innovation has been filed and the researchers are seeking commercial
and government support to scale up production.
The novel
coronavirus has infected more than 13.8 million people around the world and
killed nearly 600,000 since it emerged in China late last year. Australia has
reported more than 11,000 cases and 116 deaths.
