Ebola rapid test 15 minutes for quick diagnosis

WHO recommends new Ebola rapid test

02/20/2015

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a new Ebola rapid test, which can be used within 15 minutes to determine whether a patient is actually suffering from the serious infectious disease. So far, the diagnosis lasted at least one day. Disadvantage: "The quick test is less reliable".

Ebola rapid test provides more uncertain results than previous procedure
In West Africa, the Ebola epidemic is still raging. According to official figures, more than 23,200 people are already ill, 9,380 of whom did not survive the infectious disease. However, WHO assumes a high number of unreported cases. While the number of new infections in Guinea and Liberia has dropped in the past week, many people in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, are still bothering with the virus.

Most sufferers suffer from high fever. Since this can be a symptom of other diseases such as malaria, it is particularly important to make a diagnosis as soon as possible. So far, however, a relatively expensive method was necessary for this. Blood samples from the patient were analyzed for viral genetic material. The procedure can take up to a day. Moreover, it can only be done by trained personnel in a laboratory.

The WHO therefore recommends a new Ebola rapid test, which delivers a result after only 15 minutes. The so-called ReEBOV test of the US company Corgenix is ​​looking for viral proteins instead of genetic material of the pathogens. Another advantage is that the test can be performed very easily without a laboratory and without special training. Unfortunately, the hit rate is "significantly worse than the previous method". ReEBOV correctly identifies 92 percent of Ebola patients as ill. In 85% of cases, the test will give the correct result if the patient is not suffering from Ebola. The WHO therefore recommends that the result of the rapid test be confirmed, if possible, by a safer procedure. (Ag)

Picture: Andreas Morlok