Research: Diagnostic Testing and Treatment
WHO lists two COVID-19 tests for emergency use
7 April 2020
https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/07-04-2020-who-lists-two-covid-19-tests-for-emergency-use
WHO listed the first two COVID-19 diagnostic tests under the Emergency Use Listing Procedure. The move should help increase access to quality-assured, accurate tests that can now be supplied by the UN and other procurement agencies supporting the COVID-19 response. The two in vitro diagnostics include: (1) genesig Real-Time PCR Coronavirus (Primerdesign, U.K.), an open system suitable for laboratories with moderate sample testing capacity, and (2) cobas SARS-CoV-2 Qualitative assay (Roche, U.S.) is a closed system assay for larger laboratories using the cobas 6800/8800 Systems.
The FDA-approved Drug Ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro
Caly et al, Antiviral Research, 3 April 2020
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354220302011?via%3Dihub
Findings
Ivermectin is a widely available and used treatment for parasite infections in humans and animals, and it has an established safety profile for human use. It is also FDA-approved and appears on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines. A single treatment of Ivermectin resulted in a 5,000-fold reduction in the SARS-Cov-2 virus at 48h in cell culture.
Interpretation
Ivermectin shows the potential to inhibit the causative virus in vitro. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether ivermectin has human clinical impact in limiting the viral load, preventing severe disease progression, and limiting person-person transmission.
An overview of the rapid test situation for COVID-19 diagnosis in the EU/EEA
European Centers for Disease Control, 1 April 2020
Timely and accurate laboratory testing is an essential part of the management of COVID-19 to slow transmission, support decisions on infection control strategies, and detect asymptomatic cases that could spread the virus further. At present, clinical public health guidelines (including by the WHO) recommend COVID-19 diagnosis by molecular testing which detect the virus RNA. However, these tests require well-equipped laboratory facilities, skilled technicians and expensive reagents. Infrastructure limitations and supply shortages are currently limiting testing capacity below the growing demand for COVID- 19 diagnostics. This report surveys the range of rapid diagnostic tests that are currently available – including rapid antigen testing – in order to alleviate the pressure on laboratories and expand testing capacity to meet the most urgent medical and public health needs.