The Covid-19 pandemic has put scientists and doctors on alert. Tracking for known viruses is no longer enough. Now it is necessary to do watch out for the emergence of new variants. With this in mind, researchers at Yale University have perfected a test of nasal swab. This technique would reveal the presence of a still unknown threat.
Early tests suggest it might be a quick and efficient way Of detect viruses, otherwise undetected. This new study follows previous research on an abnormality in the results of the nasal swab test. These were taken from patients suspected of having a respiratory infection.
The results have been published on The Lancet microbe.
It uses a protein from the nasal mucosa
Typically, nasal swab tests are used to identify 10 to 15 known viruses. However, sometimes the body might be fighting off an infection, while the test didn’t find any viruses. In the new study, these are high levels of CXCL10 which alerted the authors of this research. The CXCL10 is an antiviral protein produced by the nasal mucosa.
In fact, the researchers decided to take a closer look at these cases. They then applied an extensive process of genetic sequencing on old nasal swab samples in which CXCL10 was abundant. This allowed the scientists to pinpoint the presence of an influenza C virus, a rare flu.
This same technique allowed the team to detect four unsuspected cases of Covid-19 at the time of the nasal swab.
Listen to the body
Concretely, scientists have decided to rely on the responses of the human body to alert you to unlisted or hidden viruses. Also, they estimate it to be a good number other viruses may be detected in this way.
“Because this approach relies on immune recognition of features common to many viruses, it does not require any prior knowledge of the pathogen. »
The authors of the article
With this new test, it would be possible to identify unknown viruses with fewer samples to examine. It would also make it more efficient detection of new epidemics. Also, plan to study deep into other proteins with function similar to CXCL10.
SOURCE : SCIENTIFIC NOTICE
