WASHINGTON: Investigators report on the design and testing of a breath analyzer, known as bubbler which depends viral RNA Detection for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2.
Its name is derived from the bubbling sound that occurs when the patient exhales into the device. Conclusion The. were published in a new study in Journal of Molecular DiagnosticsPublished by Elsevier.
Babbler not only reverse transcribes royal army DNA can be tested via PCR from airborne virus particles, but can also barcode that DNA, allowing samples to be linked directly to the patient they came from and used for sequencing. Is. It can be used for simultaneous batches of pooled samples and provides additional information such as viral load and strain identification and eliminates the need to freeze a sample, potentially requiring the assay to be performed at home. allows.
“Involvement of the lower respiratory tract is often a precursor to severe COVID-19, so there is an argument for a more direct sampling focused on exhalation,” said principal investigator William G. Fairbrother, PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, explained. Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Brown University in Providence, RI, USA.
Virus detection by bubbler is similar to hospital-swab PCR testing; However, it is a better measure of the risk of contagion because it detects airborne viral particles. Bandage The tests can give positive results for months after infection because they detect viral RNA fragments in cells that persist in already infected cells. The bubbler can also be adapted to sample the environment in hospitals, transportation hubs and closed environments such as offices, ships and aircraft, the investigators report.
Seventy patients treated emergency department Of Rhode Island Hospital Screening was done from May 2020 to January 2021. The study tested samples from three points in the respiratory tract. Tongue scrapes (saliva/tongue scraps) from the mouth and 15 seconds of breath collected in the babbler were compared with a conventional nasopharyngeal swab PCR test. A bubbler is a glass tube with a glass pipette through which the patient can exhale. The tube is filled with a reverse transcription reaction mixture and cold mineral oil.
The study determined that SARS-CoV-2 is readily detectable in the breath and is more predictive of lower respiratory tract involvement. Viral RNA is more enriched in breath than in oral samples, whereas oral samples contain cells associated with SARS-CoV-2 replication that are not in breath samples. This suggests that the viral signal detected in the bubbler comes from active viral particles.
“Babblers are more likely to be a better indicator of current infection than nasopharyngeal swabs,” Fairbrother said. “Another advantage is barcoding, which enables high-throughput RNA virus testing at a fraction of the cost of conventional testing. The barcode gives a viral sequence that also supports strain identification, which may prove useful because of transmissibility.” And more information is learned about possible stress-specific treatment decisions.”
The investigators also showed how the bubbler could be adapted to detect the virus in airborne samples. To model the movement of droplets released into human breath, three unique nucleic acid samples were added to three individual humidifiers at different locations at different distances from the bubbler in rooms with high airflow and rooms with low airflow. went. Although detailed exploration of this application was outside the scope of the study, the results demonstrate the potential of using aerosolized nucleic acids to quantitatively map airflow in indoor spaces and to detect SARS-CoV-2 in air.
“Such technology could be useful in restoring service to industries such as hotels, cruise ships and casinos,” Fairbrother said. “There is also an epidemiological benefit to routine testing of air at early warning sites such as transportation centers and hospital emergency departments.”
Tests for COVID-19 usually use samples collected from the upper respiratory tract by saliva or nasopharyngeal swabs. Positive samples contain active virus, but viral load in the upper respiratory tract is not related to symptoms in the lower respiratory tract, such as pneumonia.
Its name is derived from the bubbling sound that occurs when the patient exhales into the device. Conclusion The. were published in a new study in Journal of Molecular DiagnosticsPublished by Elsevier.
Babbler not only reverse transcribes royal army DNA can be tested via PCR from airborne virus particles, but can also barcode that DNA, allowing samples to be linked directly to the patient they came from and used for sequencing. Is. It can be used for simultaneous batches of pooled samples and provides additional information such as viral load and strain identification and eliminates the need to freeze a sample, potentially requiring the assay to be performed at home. allows.
“Involvement of the lower respiratory tract is often a precursor to severe COVID-19, so there is an argument for a more direct sampling focused on exhalation,” said principal investigator William G. Fairbrother, PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular Biology, explained. Cell Biology and Biochemistry at Brown University in Providence, RI, USA.
Virus detection by bubbler is similar to hospital-swab PCR testing; However, it is a better measure of the risk of contagion because it detects airborne viral particles. Bandage The tests can give positive results for months after infection because they detect viral RNA fragments in cells that persist in already infected cells. The bubbler can also be adapted to sample the environment in hospitals, transportation hubs and closed environments such as offices, ships and aircraft, the investigators report.
Seventy patients treated emergency department Of Rhode Island Hospital Screening was done from May 2020 to January 2021. The study tested samples from three points in the respiratory tract. Tongue scrapes (saliva/tongue scraps) from the mouth and 15 seconds of breath collected in the babbler were compared with a conventional nasopharyngeal swab PCR test. A bubbler is a glass tube with a glass pipette through which the patient can exhale. The tube is filled with a reverse transcription reaction mixture and cold mineral oil.
The study determined that SARS-CoV-2 is readily detectable in the breath and is more predictive of lower respiratory tract involvement. Viral RNA is more enriched in breath than in oral samples, whereas oral samples contain cells associated with SARS-CoV-2 replication that are not in breath samples. This suggests that the viral signal detected in the bubbler comes from active viral particles.
“Babblers are more likely to be a better indicator of current infection than nasopharyngeal swabs,” Fairbrother said. “Another advantage is barcoding, which enables high-throughput RNA virus testing at a fraction of the cost of conventional testing. The barcode gives a viral sequence that also supports strain identification, which may prove useful because of transmissibility.” And more information is learned about possible stress-specific treatment decisions.”
The investigators also showed how the bubbler could be adapted to detect the virus in airborne samples. To model the movement of droplets released into human breath, three unique nucleic acid samples were added to three individual humidifiers at different locations at different distances from the bubbler in rooms with high airflow and rooms with low airflow. went. Although detailed exploration of this application was outside the scope of the study, the results demonstrate the potential of using aerosolized nucleic acids to quantitatively map airflow in indoor spaces and to detect SARS-CoV-2 in air.
“Such technology could be useful in restoring service to industries such as hotels, cruise ships and casinos,” Fairbrother said. “There is also an epidemiological benefit to routine testing of air at early warning sites such as transportation centers and hospital emergency departments.”
Tests for COVID-19 usually use samples collected from the upper respiratory tract by saliva or nasopharyngeal swabs. Positive samples contain active virus, but viral load in the upper respiratory tract is not related to symptoms in the lower respiratory tract, such as pneumonia.
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