India develops first local test to detect flu, Covid in single swab

The first domestic diagnostic kit to identify three influenza-like infections has been created by the National Institute of Virology. This kit will identify Influenza A, B, and SARS-CoV-2 using a single test, and it is looking for interested businesses to introduce it to the general public.

The test kit will reportedly employ a patient’s nasal and throat swabs. According to the specialist of NIV Pune’s influenza division, the kit is what is known as a multiplex single tube real-time RT-PCR test to identify Influenza A, B, and Covid-19.

It will be simple, quick, and effective to identify three infections with only one test. “Single tube” basically means that we will be able to identify many illnesses from a single patient’s sample. The sample won’t need to be tested separately by technicians. Since the symptoms of the three viruses frequently overlap, a kit like this is especially helpful when the flu season is in full swing. The institute, which is a part of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), invited expressions of interest (EOI) on May 15.

Notably, the single kit can be used by the technicians to detect the infection of multiple disease detection, it will use nasal and throat swabs, similar to the Covid-19 testing kits.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that concurrently detect many pathogens in a single response with a single sample are referred to as multiplex testing in the context of molecular assays. The test is a very precise nucleic acid-based diagnostic method for assessing patient specimens who are experiencing an acute infection, according to the centre.

This is the first kit that India will produce that was developed locally, even though similar technology is in varying stages of development in several nations.