A new saliva test could mean big things for our current pandemic.
Researchers at the Yale School of Public Health have developed a new SalivaDirect test. The new test determines if someone has the coronavirus or not, and has been granted an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The new method is being further developed through a program that tests asymptomatic individuals from the National Basketball Association.
Benefits of the new test include it being less expensive and less invasive than the nasal swab. The saliva test is also highly sensitive and seems to yield similar results to the nasal test.
Researchers shared that the test can produce results in 3 hours, with similar accuracy to the traditional nasal swab test.
The SalivaDirect test will be available immediately for laboratory testing. The hope is that this test will improve testing availability and accessibility.
“With saliva being quick and easy to collect, we realized it could be a game-changer in COVID-19 diagnostics,” said Wyllie. Wyllie is an associate research scientist at Yale School of Public Health.
Wide-spread testing is necessary to be able to get COVID-19 cases under control in our nation. With SalivaDirect decreasing both testing times and costs, the hope is that this will be the result.
Yale scientists shared that with this new test, they believe laboratories shouldn’t charge more than $10 per sample.
Yale plans to publish its protocol as “open-source.” This means that designated labs will be able to follow the protocol to perform their own tests according to Yale’s instructions
