Testing for a virus can be extremely difficult and doctors are not always certain about what it is they are looking for. But this might soon change, thanks to a team of scientists at Washington University, who have been developing an all-encompassing viral test. The medical breakthrough, currently in its earliest stages of development, has been announced by Dr. Gregory Storch, a pediatrics professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and his team.
Virocap, the Virus Tester
In order to create the test, dubbed “Virocap,” researchers have based their work on a technology used at the McDonnell Genome Institute. Virocap, which has been shown to be effective in lab tests, utilizes genome sequencing to detect viruses in the body and can be used on both humans and animals.
To test its effectiveness, researchers first took samples from sick patients at a hospital and then used Virocap to successfully identify four previously undetected viruses – all of which had gone unnoticed with the current viral testing method implemented at the hospital. However, while Virocap seems successful in its early stages, it still has to undergo many clinical trials before it is made public. Once the test is approved, researchers hope to make it available everywhere in the world, so that any patient can have access to it.
The future of Virocap
Virocap could truly innovate the medical field; for Storch and his researchers, this could translate itself into a Nobel Prize. For people suffering from Ebola, the breakthrough could also eliminate the $1,000 test needed to diagnosed the disease; rather, Virocap can be used to determine what patients are exactly suffering from, and whether or not they are misdiagnosed.
Moreover, the virus test could also act as a preventative measure against various diseases. Consider all the people that contract Influenza every year. Virocap could be used to pinpoint the correct subtype of the disease and aid in the creation of an effective course of treatment. People have also suggested that Virocap can be altered to detect bacteria and other pathogens.
