A new test will easily identify any virus
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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In a leading scientific center of the world, a group of microbiologists have created a unique way of detecting any virus, both in humans and animals, with an ultra-sensitive test revealing even those microorganisms whose level is extremely low. It should be noted that modern tests do not show the presence of viruses if their level is lower than the specified level or they are "tuned" only to a certain strain of viruses.
In the laboratory, usually during a blood test or other biological research, traces of a specific virus are sought that could cause characteristic symptoms in the patient.
According to microbiologists from Washington, the new test effectively identifies all the microorganisms present in the samples and is a kind of "trap" for viruses. The lead author of the study noted that their development relieves laboratory technicians from the need to select a test to search for a specific virus, while the development of a disease can be assumed even at the initial stage, when the concentration of viruses in the blood is extremely small. According to scientists, this approach to laboratory research will help in severe cases, when it is not possible to establish the cause of the disease with standard diagnostics.
The medical school staff who developed the unique test noted that its sensitivity is at the level of a method that allows increasing the small concentrations of DNA fragments in a biological sample (a method known in science as PCR).
But even the most effective PCR methods to date allow us to detect no more than 20 types of viruses that do not have significant differences from each other.
One of the authors of the scientific project, Todd Wylie, noted that the test has an ultra-high sensitivity, which makes it possible to distinguish even genetically similar microorganisms. Traditional methods of virus detection often do not distinguish similar genetically viruses, which complicates the process of laboratory analysis (one test does not allow to identify all variants of viruses).
A unique test is quite promising, but before it becomes available in all laboratories, it will take several years of research and testing, but already today virologists warn of the deadly danger that the H2N2 flu virus carries.
Specialists note that for viruses there is a cyclicity, i.e. A certain repetition after a certain period of time.
In most cases, viruses are reactivated 60 years after the first outbreak.
Experts believe that the spread of a deadly infection will begin with China in 2017. This type of virus first appeared in Asian countries in the late 1950s, and according to some reports, up to 4 million people died of influenza at that time.
Experts believe that the outbreak of the virus in China will occur because of the large number of birds and pigs in this country, which are the main carriers of dangerous infections.
According to the doctors, to prevent the epidemic vaccination will be enough (on average, such activities will take several months), but without exception, medical centers should take care to have everything necessary to provide assistance to all those in need and to stop spreading the infection.
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