Science Sub-Journal: The new COVID-19 hybrid test method can efficiently and highly flux detection of asymptomatic carriers.

!--Webeditor: page title-- In a new study, --- researchers from Ben-Gurrian University in Israel, the Open University of Israel, Bayland University and the University medical center in Soroka developed a new type of SARS based on sample mixing. -CoV-2 efficient test method: P-BEST, and confirmed that this COVID-19 hybrid test (pooling test, which mixes samples from multiple individuals into a single test tube as a single test result) can identify all positive subjects, including asymptomatic carriers, in one round of testing.
study was recently published in the journal Science Advances under the title "Efficient high-doesn't SARS-CoV-2 testing to detect asymptomatic carriers."
P-BEST design and testing of 384 samples with a positive carrying rate of 1%, pictured is Science Advances, 2020, doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc5961. Professor Angel Porgador, co-author of the
paper and vice-president of research and development at Ben-Gurrian University in Israel, said: "About 10 to 30 per cent of people infected with COVID-19 have no symptoms and develop significant viral transmission a few days before symptoms appear.
there will be an urgent need to improve diagnostic testing capabilities to screen asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic populations before a vaccine is available.
this new single-stage diagnostic test will help stop the spread of the disease by identifying these patients earlier at a lower cost through the use of significantly fewer tests.
new study, 384 samples were divided into 48 sample pools, increasing test efficiency eightfold and reducing reagent testing costs eightfold.
each sample pool consists of a unique set of 48 samples, each of which appears in exactly six sample pools by using a specific combination design.
then tested the 48 sample pools using a COVID-19 PCR-based diagnostic program, which includes an RNA extraction phase, at the Virology Laboratory at the University medical center in Soroca.
After testing each of the 48 sample pools individually, the researchers successfully identified up to five positive carriers in 384 samples without having to test all subjects in each sample pool.
, co-author of the paper and head of computer science at the Open University of Israel, said, "P-BEST can be configured based on the SARS-CoV-2 positive carry rate.
the lower the positive carrying rate, the higher the efficiency.
our sample mixing method was tested using an advanced liquid handling robot system that can complete tasks in an hour and can be performed in a typical clinical diagnostic laboratory anywhere in the world.
" the researchers also tested the performance of P-BEST in a clinical study designed to screen health care workers for asymptomatic and mild symptoms.
study, they screened 1,115 asymptomatic health care workers at the University medical center in Soroca using P-BEST.
were recruited from all staff at the University medical center in Soroca, including doctors, nurses, nurse assistants, as well as clinicians and administrators.
296 (26.5%) subjects had direct contact with COVID-19 patients at work.
in this queue, 926 (93.1%) of the subjects reported complete asymptomatic, 71 (6.3%) reported mild cough and 70 (6.3%) reported a runny nose.
only 144 tests were conducted on the 1,115 subjects.
the sample pool for all tests was negative.
as a result of the decline in positive carrying rates in Israel during April 2020, a third batch of samples was blindly injected with a sample from a COVID-19 patient who was tested and identified.
"P-BEST is ideal for positive carry screening when infection rates are very low, below 1%," said Professor Tomer Hertz, co-author of the paper and professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics at Ben-Gurrian University in Israel.
this will greatly save reagents and other diagnostic testing resources, while significantly improving detection capabilities.
" Ben-Gurrian University in Israel and the Open University of Israel have set up a company called Poold Diagnostics to explore large-scale COVID-19 testing after this clinical study.
mid-August this year, the Israeli Ministry of Health approved the use of P-BEST in clinical laboratories in Israel.
"The Ben-Gurrian University research team in Israel has validated a sample mixing method that will allow accurate and low-cost mass testing of COVID-19 in Israel and eventually in other countries," said Doug Seserman, chief executive of the American Association of Ben-Gurrian University (AABGU) in Israel.
the COVID-19 Response Plan (COVID-19 Response Effort) at Ben-Gurion University in Israel is advancing the commercialization of technologies and innovations to mitigate the impact of the epidemic.
" (bioon.com) Reference: 1.Noam Shental et al. Efficient high-deal SARS-CoV-2 testing to detect asymptomatic carriers. Science Advances, 2020, doi:10.1126/sciadv.abc5961.2.COVID-19 pooling test !--symptomatic carriers title"--!--/ewebeditor:page--.