10 minute test could help prevent COVID-19 spreading in hospitals
A 10 minute test could help quickly identify whether patients with COVID19 symptoms are infected or not, helping shield them from infection from COVID-19 positive patients.
A point of care test that provides results in 10 minutes could provide an effective triage tool in hospitals for patients showing symptoms of COVID-19, a new trial led by Dr Tristan Clark has shown.
Management of the COVID-19 pandemic has been hampered by delays associated with the standard PCR test which requires samples to be sent to a laboratory, with results not being available until one or two days later. This increases the risk of transmission within the hospital if negative patients are exposed to patients with COVID-19.
Rapid results
The FebriDx® Point-of-Care Test device detects proteins made in the body in response to viral and bacterial infections.
It has previously been used in GP surgeries to rapidly identify patients infected with respiratory viruses such as influenza (flu), but this is the first time its effectiveness at detecting patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, has been evaluated.
In the trial led by Dr Tristan Clark, 248 patients admitted to Southampton General Hospital with symptoms of COVID-19 were tested using a PCR test and also with the FebriDx device.
Of the 118 patients who tested positive using the PCR test, 110 also tested positive for a viral infection with the FebriDx test – a sensitivity of 93%.
Results from FebriDx were available in 10 minutes compared to an average of 23.4 hours for PCR tests carried out in a laboratory.
Like a pregnancy test
The test works in a similar way to a home pregnancy kit, using a simple hand held disposable device.
A drop of blood from a finger prick is added to one end of the device and is pushed down by reagents.
The test detects 2 protein markers of infection in the blood and indicates whether the patient has an infection and whether the infection is viral (a red line is present).
Preventing COVID-19 infections
In a hospital triage setting, the test could be used to reduce infections within hospital by isolating patients with COVID-19 symptoms who test positive for a viral infection.
Dr Clark commented: “We tested the FebriDx device during the first wave of the pandemic and it proved to be very fast and accurate in identifying patients infected with COVID-19, around 24 hours before the laboratory results were available.
“Whilst it detects an antiviral host response rather than the virus itself, it can rapidly identify those patients who do and do not have viral infection allowing hospitals to rapidly take appropriate infection control measures.
“As a low cost device it has the potential to be a rapidly deployed as a front line triage tool in hospitals and urgent care centres.”
The results of the trial have been published in the Journal of Infection.