NEW DELHI: A low-cost saliva test that will enable people to collect their own samples with minimal discomfort, without invasive nasal or throat swabs, could well be the way forward to detect the novel coronavirus, say scientists.
Giving a thumbs up to the alternative testing technology that is yet to be introduced in India, scientists said it would deliver results faster and more accurately and also minimise the risk for healthcare workers collecting samples.
The saliva-based COVID-19 diagnosis offers an improvement over standard nasopharyngeal swab methods because people can collect their own samples with ease — simply spit into a sterile tube and mail it to a lab for processing.
“It is also unique because it does not require a separate nucleic acid (RNA) extraction step. This is significant because the extraction kits used for this step in other tests have been prone to shortages in the past,” A R Anand, senior associate professor at Chennai’s L&T Microbiology Research Centre, told PTI.
Noting that the ‘saliva direct’ test is easier to carry out, he said it needs only a few reagents and a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) machine.
Discussion on the technology intensified after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week gave the Yale School of Public Health emergency use authorisation for its ‘Salivadirect’ COVID-19 diagnostic test.
The FDA said in a statement that SalivaDirect does not require any special type of swab or collection device.
A saliva sample, it said, can be collected in any sterile container.
Though saliva tests are yet to be approved in India for mass use, scientists such as Anand suggest the matter be explored further.
“A fast-tracked study should be conducted in an Indian setting comparing the saliva RT-PCR tests with the nasopharyngeal RT-PCR tests before large-scale implementation in our country,” Anand said.
An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) scientist added that India is exploring the availability of kits and other aspects.
“At present, no kit is approved in India,” he said on the condition of anonymity.
According to a recent study published in ICMR’s Indian Journal of Medical Research, gargled water samples may be another viable alternative to swabs for detecting COVID-19, enabling easy self-collection and removing the need for trained healthcare workers for sample collection.
Asked about the saliva test cleared by the FDA, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava on Wednesday told a parliamentary panel that taking samples from gargled water is already under consideration and further details will be available soon.
There are two types of diagnostic tests for COVID-19 testing, both using swabs from the nose and the throat.
The RT-PCR test, which can take hours or even days before a result, detects genetic material of the virus using a lab technique called polymerase chain reaction.
The second diagnostic test, the antigen COVID-19 test, detects certain proteins in the virus.
An antigen test can also produce results in minutes.
Saliva tests would be an improvement on both.
“The collection does not involve material such as swabs — which can be in short supply — and the person doing the collection does not need as much training,” Satyajit Rath, from New Delhi’s National Institute of Immunology, told PTI.
“Such systems also reduce the cost since we don’t have to depend on one company. Saliva is a much easier sample to collect from patients, compared to nasopharyngeal swabs, which are a little invasive and cause some discomfort to patients,” Anand added.
Vineeta Bal, an immunologist from Pune’s Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research, said saliva tests might become easily accessible like rapid paper strip tests available for testing blood or urine glucose.
“Hence, life can come closer to the ‘normal’ that we knew of before the pandemic. In India, some researchers are developing the tests for detection from saliva. But as far as I know they are far from reaching the market,” Bal added.
Noting the pluses of the Yale saliva test, virologist Shahid Jameel pointed to the ease of sample collection and the reduced cost for extracting RNA, the genetic material of a virus.
It would also lead to fewer false negative results.
“Most false negative results in the RT-PCR test today are due to improper sampling from the nasopharyngeal area, which is also uncomfortable for the person being tested,” Jameel, CEO of the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance, a public charity that invests in building biomedical sciences, told PTI.
In addition to the Yale saliva test, Israel’s Center for Geographic Medicine and Tropical Diseases has developed a test that aims to determine in less than a second whether a person is infected with the novel coronavirus.
Noting that the Israel test is yet to be approved, Jameel said it uses the scattering of light by virus particles in mouth washings to estimate both presence or absence, and quantity of virus particles in the sample.
“This is based on obtaining data from a large number of positive and negative people and training an algorithm to pick the right scattering patterns. Besides the light source, this test uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, hoping to get better with time as more samples are analysed,” Jameel explained.
Machine learning is an application of AI that provides systems the ability to automatically learn and improve from experience.
“Both the tests will reduce time. The Yale test will only cut RNA extraction time as the rest of the process is the same. The Israel test is very quick,” Jameel added.
Virologist T Jacob John agreed that the saliva test is a low-cost alternative.
Explaining one of the ways in which saliva test can work, he said, “There is a process of viral genetic material (RNA) converted to DNA, which is then detected by a method different from PCR. It is called ‘loop-mediated isothermal amplification’, or LAMP, an original Japanese invention,” John, former head of clinical virology at Christian Medical College, Vellore, told PTI.
LAMP is a cheaper PCR alternative previously used to detect outbreaks of zika and ebola in resource-poor countries.
“The final reading is taken by colour reaction — pink turning to yellow. The equipment is cheaper than PCR equipment, If spit is collected, it avoids the use of special swabs which are in short supply,” said John.
Israel and India are conducting trials here on a large sample of patients for four different kinds of technologies, including two COVID-19 tests that could give results in minutes from a saliva sample, according to a statement by the Israeli Embassy in Delhi.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
