Related papers: Evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen te…
Since the first case of COVID-19 disease in Wuhan in December 2019, there is a worldwide struggle to reduce the transmission of acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Many countries worldwide decided to impose local lockdowns in…
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread rapidly across the world, leading to enormous amounts of human death and economic loss. Until definitive preventive or curative measures are developed, policies regarding testing,…
SARS-CoV-2, the highly contagious pathogen responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, has persistent effects that begin four weeks after initial infection and last for an undetermined duration. These chronic effects are more harmful than acute…
The Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR)} test is the silver bullet diagnostic test to discern COVID infection. Rapid antigen detection is a screening test to identify COVID positive patients in little as 15 minutes, but…
Due to its high lethality amongst the elderly, the safety of nursing homes has been of central importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. With test procedures becoming available at scale, such as antigen or RT-LAMP tests, and increasing…
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges that have spurred biotechnological research to address specific problems. Diagnostics is one area where biotechnology has been critical. Diagnostic tests play a vital role in managing a…
With the huge spike in the COVID-19 cases across the globe and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test remains a key component for rapid and accurate detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2…
Suppressing SARS-CoV-2 will likely require the rapid identification and isolation of infected individuals, on an ongoing basis. RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) tests are accurate but costly, making regular testing…
In order to slow the spread of the CoViD-19 pandemic, governments around the world have enacted a wide set of policies limiting the transmission of the disease. Initially, these focused on non-pharmaceutical interventions; more recently,…
Antigen test kits have been used extensively as a screening tool during the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). While it is generally expected that taking samples for analysis with PCR testing gives more reliable results than…
Pavelka et al. (Science, Reports, 7 May 2021) claim that a single round of population-wide antigen testing in Slovakia reduced the observed COVID-19 prevalence by 58%, and that it played a substantial role in curbing the pandemic. We argue…
We analyze the effect of using a screening CT-scan for evaluation of potential COVID-19 infections in order to isolate and perform contact tracing based upon a viral pneumonia diagnosis. RT-PCR is then used for continued isolation based…
Early screening of patients is a critical issue in order to assess immediate and fast responses against the spread of COVID-19. The use of nasopharyngeal swabs has been considered the most viable approach; however, the result is not…
Future SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak COVID-XX might possibly occur during the next years. However the pathology in humans is so recent that many clinical aspects, like early detection of complications, side effects after recovery or early…
COVID-19 vaccines are highly efficacious at preventing symptomatic infection, severe disease, and death. Most of the evidence that COVID-19 vaccines also reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is based on retrospective, observational studies.…
Background: Rapid testing for an infection is paramount during a pandemic to prevent continued viral spread and excess morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to determine whether alternative testing strategies based on sample pooling can…
The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the novel corona virus has an exponential rate of infection. COVID-19 is particularly notorious as the onset of symptoms in infected patients are usually delayed and there exists a large…
Genomic surveillance of infectious diseases allows monitoring circulating and emerging variants and quantifying their epidemic potential. However, due to the high costs associated with genomic sequencing, only a limited number of samples…
There are multiple testing methods to ascertain an infection in an individual and they vary in their performances, cost and delay. Unfortunately, better performing tests are sometimes costlier and time consuming and can only be done for a…
Testing for infection with SARS-CoV-2 is an important intervention in reducing onwards transmission of COVID-19, particularly when combined with the isolation and contact-tracing of positive cases. Many countries with the capacity to do so…