The new test is cheaper than other PCR tests – the most common type of test – and can give results in less than 40 minutes, the Nigerian Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) said.

The diagnostic test kit will cost less than $ 25 and the samples can be analyzed using a mobile machine that can be used by low-skilled personnel with minimal training, the agency said.

“We saw the need for more testing equipment, especially those that can give results in a short time because hospitals refused to treat patients without Covid-19 results,” said Babatunde Salako, the director of NIMR, at CNN.

“The machine we are using is not the current PCR machine. We bought the machine and adapted the kit we developed to work with this machine. It is intended for the diagnosis of other pathogens, ”said Salako.

Although Salako added that the detection rate of the NIMR test kit is “a little lower than that of PCR, but for the point of service, we think it is quite good at the moment”.

Testing challenges

Nigeria is currently importing PCR test kits from China and is struggling to get enough kits to test most of its population of 200 million.

“We thought this was very important because it will diversify the way testing is done. With it, all the people in villages and remote areas can be tested by moving the machine to those villages, ”Salako, who has headed the agency since 2016 said.

Nigeria has so far recorded more than 59,000 cases of Covid-19 and more than 1,000 deaths as of October 2, according to figures from the Nigeria Center for Disease Control.

Health authorities are also reporting a decrease in the number of cases, with treatment centers, called isolation centers, being closed across the country.

Nigeria has the largest population in Africa and has only tested around 500,000 people, according to figures from local health authorities. The PCR test is the most common and accurate diagnostic test

to determine if someone is currently infected with coronavirus.

However, testing requires specialized supplies, expensive instruments, and the expertise of trained lab technicians, which has led to shortages and a lack of testing globally.

While testing in Nigeria is free in public laboratories, there are few such facilities and they are only found in large cities. And sometimes health officials had to transfer samples to other states to confirm the results due to a shortage of kits.

“It has always been my concern and my passion to see that Nigeria does not need to take samples outside to diagnose. We have scientists who can do it if they have the support. This is what led to a visit to Senegal and China. We collaborated to train our staff in pathogen detection, even before Covid started, we went in August and September 2019 to train our scientists.

Salako said the test kits will be mass produced once validated by regulatory authorities – the Nigerian Center for Disease Control and the Scientific Council of Medical Laboratories of Nigeria. “We don’t expect validation to take that long.

“The only limitation is that we have to produce more samples of these kits and acquire new machines which are essential to our work. Once this is done, we can mass produce with government support and serve markets across Africa. “

In a separate announcement this week, the World Health Organization, working with several regional partners and donor agencies, announced that it had entered into plans to provide 120 million ‘affordable’ and high-quality Covid-19 rapid tests. quality to low- and middle-income countries. , including in Africa.

Rapid diagnostic tests for the antigen, the agency said, would sell for below $ 5.

Nigeria is not the first country to produce test kits on the continent. In March, Senegalese scientists worked with a UK-based lab to create a diagnostic test for the coronavirus that can produce test results in 10 minutes

Source: https://www.fr24news.com/a/2020/10/nigerian-scientists-develop-cheaper-faster-covid-19-test-kits.html#

cc: lalasticlala, mynd44, dominique

It's cool, but we've been hearing similar stories over and over and over, so no one is anymore interested in stories until it's practically and successfully in use.
Where is the Yoyo bitters from Cuba, acclaimed to cure Covid-19? Where's the $1 test kit from Senegal and the alleged vaccine Putin's daughter used? No valid outcomes yet, they're all stories upon stories, clinical trials upon trials, with no end in view.
Moreover, aside from the few victims who got hit real bad by the virus, most Nigerians are resistant and asymptomatic carriers of the virus.
We all know Covid-19 isn't an African virus but some people continue to drag the whole thing because of the dirty, filthy profits they're getting from it. It has been a whole lots of profits all the while for looters, at this point, I think this scandemic should end already.

We have no need for it again
We should export it to other countries who are in need of it

Macsjebs:
Although Salako added that the detection rate of the NIMR test kit is “a little lower than that of PCR

Sums it up.

Luftwaffe:


Sums it up.

Sums what up?

Ehiscotch:
Sums what up?

How ineffective it is.
What's the point in having a test result out fast if it's inaccurate? I'd rather wait 24hrs for the full detection.

Luftwaffe:


How ineffective it is.
What's the point in having a test result out fast if it's inaccurate? I'd rather wait 24hrs for the full detection.

It is not totally inaccurate fam, no need defacing it.

You have to realise that the virus has a high rate of transmission and 24 hours spent waiting for a PCR test (which isn't 100%) is almost equally as dangerous; coupled with the fact that it isn't readily available and you might wait further than 24 hours.

There is no harm in developing a test kit that could be carry out rapid testing to complement the PCR.

It's better to test and get a negative result and wait for the PCR to confirm than to not get tested at all or wait for so long and spread the disease until you are tested.