May 16,Kathmandu
To this growing scenario of COVID-19 cases, the government gets its hand to new RDT kits that show infected and recovered cases.
Shravan Kumar Mishra, a virologist at National Public Health Laboratory explained, “If the blood tests positive for the antibody IgM, then the infection is recent. This antibody forms within five to seven days of infection. There are high chances for transmission of the disease when this antibody is present in the blood. If IgG is present in the blood, then the patient is in the recovery phase.”
Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits helps in medical screening of infected patients. When the body comes in contact with illness or coronavirus, it makes two kinds of antibodies: immunoglobulin M (IgM) and G (IgG). And the RDT kit will help them differentiate the types of antibodies.
“RDT kits we had been using didn’t differentiate between the two types of antibodies. The new test kit will help us in finding active cases,” clarifies Mishra. To this Runa Jha, director at NPHL added, “We’ve started using the new kits. However, those who test positive in the RDT test should still undergo a PCR test.”
