Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are looking for partners to launch a line of tests for the body stability to the SARS-COV-2 virus. Such tests should be in demand against the background of news about the new waves of coronavirus, and therefore the project is attractive from a commercial point of view. However, his medical and scientific components still raise questions.
The principle of operation of the new test is based on the contact of antibodies in the human blood with viral proteins SARS-COV-2. The latter are mixed with gold microparticles, so the process of interaction with antibodies will be visualized and visible to the human eye. It looks like a bright strip on a test plate – the wider and more distinct, the higher the level of antibodies and the body’s stability to the virus.
The problem is that the dynamics of changing the parameters of the test strip without an accurate smartphone chamber is hardly possible to evaluate, it is so insignificant. The corresponding application is already being developed, the cost of subscription for its use has not yet been voiced. Alas, antibodies are only one of the indicators of the effectiveness of the immune system, so the factor of their presence is not a reliable medical certificate of readiness of the body to withstand coronavirus.
What is even worse, the level of antibodies decreases very quickly after the disease or vaccination, although it does not disappear at all. This means that the test will obviously show a negative result if the patient has other diseases, or immunity is weakened for age or other reasons. Therefore, to evaluate the real level of covid-19 population resistance with this test is unlikely to be possible, but there will be many reasons to encourage people to revaccinations.
Source — MIT