Scientists at the University of California San Diego have proposed using standard blood glucose meters to diagnose coronavirus through saliva. According to experts, such a test has one hundred percent accuracy, and it can be used at home. The preprint of the scientific article is published on the MedRxiv portal.
It is noted that blood sugar levels are directly related to the concentration of viral protein in saliva. The article emphasizes that a similar method has already been tested clinically.
For such a study, saliva will be taken from the patient with the help of a cotton swab, Tatyana Zimina, a leading researcher at the ITC CMID of ETU LETI, explained in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper. “At the molecular level, an antigen – for example, an S-protein on the surface of a virus – is detected by molecular bio-recognition. Biochip-based tests using this principle are very promising, ”she said.
Under the leadership of Zimina, LETI is also developing peptide biochips for recognizing COVID-19 in saliva, but it was American experts who first expressed the idea of using glucometers. According to experts, the undoubted plus of the glucometer is that it can be used to detect other diseases. For example, HIV and hepatitis.
Earlier, the Moscow Department of Health emphasized that the main risk group for coronavirus includes people over 60 years old, as well as patients with diabetes.
Over the past day, over 15 thousand cases of COVID-19 infection have been identified in Russia. According to the headquarters, new infected people were detected in 84 regions of the country. At the same time, 5377 people recovered per day.
