: New COVID Test Kit By AIIMS Detects More Cases; May Cost Less Than Rs 12 #IndiaNEWS #COVID-19 Fact Check Since the time SARS-CoV-2 was first discovered in a 55-year-old resident of Hubei province,

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New COVID Test Kit By AIIMS Detects More Cases; May Cost Less Than Rs 12 #IndiaNEWS #COVID -19 Fact Check
Since the time SARS-CoV-2 was first discovered in a 55-year-old resident of Hubei province, China, on 17 November 2019, medical researchers have been working round the clock to find vaccines, medication, a COVID test and general behavioural protocols to fight the spread of the virus.
Dr Vikram Saini, Associate Professor, Laboratory of Infection Biology and Translational Research, Department of Biotechnology, AIIMS New Delhi, said, “Despite a remarkably fast development of vaccines and their success in reducing the severity of infections in several countries, the extremely contagious nature and evolution of immune escape variants of SARS-CoV-2 necessitate the adoption of ‘Test, Track, Treat and Vaccinate’ strategy for controlling transmission of COVID-19 infection. �

The Better India caught up with Dr Saini, who along with his team, has been working on developing the Viral Transport Medium (VTM) for sample collection and transportation that gives much better results of the RT-PCR COVID test than the current VTM used for detecting COVID-19.
“The studies we have conducted show that this VTM helps detect 25 per cent more symptomatic and over 50 per cent more asymptomatic cases as compared to existing VTMs. Accordingly, due to its higher sensitivity in detecting infected patients, we call our VTM as ‘SupraSens’ or SSTM. Besides this, the SSTM can also kill the virus at the time of sample collection and eliminate the need to have a cold chain for its transportation,� claims Dr Saini.
Salient Features of This New VTM:
Dr Vikram Saini
“Usually when a sample is collected in a VTM for testing, the virus is active. This sample then needs to be transported to a laboratory and can be risky. One has to ensure that the vial does not break or leak while being transported,� explains Dr Saini. Since the sample is live and active it also requires special packaging while being transported and needs to be kept in a cold chain — that means it needs to be kept at a temperature between 2°C to 8°C.
“Furthermore�, adds Dr Saini, “Even the laboratory needs to be equipped with biosafety cabinets and all safety protocols need to be in order for the sample to be tested. These are doable practices in big cities but very difficult to implement in smaller cities and towns across India. � To tackle these issues, Dr Saini says that the new VTM was worked upon.
“This COVID test kills the virus at the time of sample collection itself. Once the sample is collected it will not need a cold temperature to transport either, which significantly brings down the cost and logistics involved in the process.

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