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1/ Q: I heard the NBA invented a new Covid saliva test?
A: It's called SalivaDirect, and it was developed by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health with funding from the NBA. And it's good news!
A: It's called SalivaDirect, and it was developed by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health with funding from the NBA. And it's good news!
2/ On Saturday, the FDA granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the new test, which has some distinct advantages over the more common PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests currently in use:
3/
It requires only a saliva sample (no nasal swab!) and readily-available lab supplies and equipment (no scarce reagents or fancy proprietary machines!).
Labs can run the test quickly and at high volumes -- that translates to faster turnaround times for results.
It requires only a saliva sample (no nasal swab!) and readily-available lab supplies and equipment (no scarce reagents or fancy proprietary machines!). Labs can run the test quickly and at high volumes -- that translates to faster turnaround times for results.
4/
Testing materials cost only about $4-5/test, suggesting a likely consumer price of about $10 -- way less than the $100 & up that most PCR tests cost now.
How does the test achieve all this? Unlike PCR, the SalivaDirect test doesn't have to extract RNA from virus particles.
Testing materials cost only about $4-5/test, suggesting a likely consumer price of about $10 -- way less than the $100 & up that most PCR tests cost now.How does the test achieve all this? Unlike PCR, the SalivaDirect test doesn't have to extract RNA from virus particles.
5/ The catch? The test is much less *sensitive.* That's epi speak for how well a test does at identifying positive cases. Yes, this means that a SalivaDirect test has a higher chance of a giving a "false negative" result (the test says you don't have COVID-19 even when you do).
6/ Nathan Grubaugh, one of the Yale researchers who led the development of the test, thinks that tradeoff is worth making. A cheap, easy, rapid test allows for widespread & frequent testing, an approach called "surveillance testing."
7/ Even with a lower sensitivity test, surveillance testing can pick up most of the contagious cases in a community quickly enough to isolate cases & prevent further disease spread.
8/ And the NBA connection? The NBA & the National Basketball Players Union invested about $500,000 in the development of the test. The league was so eager to have a cheap, rapid testing option for players that they were willing to support diagnostics research.
9/ Yale will make the testing protocol freely available to interested labs.
Grubagh's lab appropriately named the testing project SWISH: the Surveillance with Improved Screening & Health study.
Grubagh's lab appropriately named the testing project SWISH: the Surveillance with Improved Screening & Health study.
10/ More on SalivaDirect:
ESPN: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29667299/fda-allowing-saliva-based-test-funded-nba?fbclid=IwAR2WxCTjpQs1E-G8aKbRg7rGGYuZHRglDcLvjRfAur2vqEZnm22v4PXF3Q8
StatNews:
https://www.statnews.com/2020/08/15/fda-clears-saliva-test-for-covid-19-opening-door-to-wider-testing/?fbclid=IwAR2jHacJzKmjqyV7vjbh2cg6x2EoCEdqfKQT6oocqyxHudT0ixvfF6Vyf4M
ESPN: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29667299/fda-allowing-saliva-based-test-funded-nba?fbclid=IwAR2WxCTjpQs1E-G8aKbRg7rGGYuZHRglDcLvjRfAur2vqEZnm22v4PXF3Q8
StatNews:
https://www.statnews.com/2020/08/15/fda-clears-saliva-test-for-covid-19-opening-door-to-wider-testing/?fbclid=IwAR2jHacJzKmjqyV7vjbh2cg6x2EoCEdqfKQT6oocqyxHudT0ixvfF6Vyf4M
