COVID-19: A new diagnostic kit promises to detect infection in four days

By Sunderarajan Padmanabhan

New Delhi: Researchers at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram are in the final stages of developing a kit that promises to help detect SARS CoVID-19 infection as early as four days post-infection of the virus.

The kit will be able to detect two types of antibodies – Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG). IgM is the first antibody that appears in the human body when it is exposed to a virus or any other antigen. The presence of IgG antibody in the body, in contrast, is indicative of an individual’s immune status to particular pathogens.

Thus, if a person is found to have IgM antibodies even while being asymptomatic, it can be taken that he or she is infected. The person can then be isolated and sent for treatment. However, if someone is found to have IgG antibodies, it can be considered that the person has already had the infection and would be immune to new infections.

This kit is being developed in collaboration with uBIO technologies, which is a company incubated at RGCB’s BioNest facility at Kochi. The company has been producing diagnostic kits and other such devices for DRDO and other organizations and has been exporting its products to over 25 countries.

Dr Radhakrishnan R., the scientist who led this study can be contacted at the email: radhakrishnan@rgcb.res.in. Director of RGCB, Prof. M Radhakrishna Pillai can be reached at mrpillai@rgcb.res.in.

(India Science Wire)