Successfully developed a new blood test

US scientists have just developed a new blood test called VirScan, which tests only one virus that can be identified by a single person who has been exposed in one place. submit for many years.

US: Successful development of new blood test

The study was published in the June 4 issue of the journal Science. Compared to the current popular blood tests such as the ELISA method, only one pathogen is detected per test. VirScan is an effective and fast method, in particular, the cost of testing this method. For only $ 25.

Illustration. (Source: medicaldaily.com)

To achieve this achievement, US scientists have developed a "virus library " of protein strings from more than 1,000 different types of viruses known by scientists to be used as a basis for identifying viruses. the infected person.

Subsequently, the team conducted blood tests for 600 people in various countries on continents, including Peru, the United States, South Africa and Thailand based on this database. The results of one test showed that most of these people exposed about 10 different viruses, and at least two had been infected with 84 viruses.

In addition, through this experiment, the researchers also found a number of antibodies produced by the immune system of the body produces when experiencing very common virus in the body of adults, but not found in the young body small. Therefore, they believe that young children have not been exposed to these viruses.

Lead researcher Stephen Elledge of Bringham's Women's Hospital said that doctors routinely diagnose and require patients to perform tests to find a virus.

VirScan , however, can produce a variety of viruses, even strange viruses, so this method will help scientists make new hypotheses and take a broader view of the interaction between the immune system of the human body and the virus.

The team believes that the accuracy of VirScan will be improved with more blood samples and that in the future it may be used for bacterial, fungal or protozoan testing.