Detection of SARS-CoV-2 using lab-on-a-chip diagnostic platform [COVID-19]
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Rapid and sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 and viral/bacterial co-infections using a nucleic acid based lab-on-a-chip diagnostic platform
IRAS ID
289096
Contact name
Alison Holmes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The emergence and spread of SARS-nCoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, requires the urgent development of rapid diagnostics to rapidly identify those infected and support surveillance. We previously adapted an existing diagnostic technology based on reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 from extracted RNA samples. The initial results look promising and the findings have been submitted for publication. To further develop this technology we would like to incorporate a RNA extraction step to simplify the diagnostic test. To do this we require residual clinical throat/nasal swabs which have previously been taken for SARS-CoV-2 analysis. These will be used to develop the assay and to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the test. No identifiable data will be given to the research team.
Additionally, the assay will be expanded to include potential bacterial/viral co-infections; the prevalence of co-infections in patients with COVID-19 remains unclear with wide variations in reported cases (Zhou et al, 2020, Langford et al, 2020; Rawson et al, 2020). Recent studies suggest that the rate of co-infections is lower than for other respiratory viral infections (Rawson et al, 2020; Langford et al, 2020), yet empirical antimicrobial use is commonly observed, with one recent metanalysis reporting 72% of COVID-19 cases receiving antibacterial therapy (Rawson et al, 2020). Inappropriate antimicrobial use is a key driver for antimicrobial resistance; rapid diagnostics are therefore required to support timely clinical management and antimicrobial prescribing. Within this study we will also develop the COVID-19 platform to incorporate other potential bacterial/viral co-infections including Influenza and Adenovirus . This will be developed using the same samples used for the development of the SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic platform. These samples have not previously been tested for other respiratory pathogens – no patient identifiers will be given to the research team.REC name
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REC reference
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