The Yale University School of Public Health has created a brand new saliva-based labratory diagnostic test for the novel COVID-19 virus. The researchers at Yale's School of Public Health was granted an emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration [FOX26.]
SalivaDirect, the name of the test, is simple and more affordable than the rapid swab test or blood testing for pathogens. The outcomes are similar to other testing methods while being less invasive.
Chantal Vogels, a postdoctoral Fellow at Yale, said "this is a huge step forward to make testing more accessible." She led the labratory development and the validation of the test alongside Doug Brackney, who is an adjunct clinical professor. She further said "this started off as an idea in our lab soon after we found saliva to be a promising sample type of the detection of SARS-CoV-2 and now it has the potential to be used on a large scale to help protect public health." [FOX26].
Assistant Profesor Nathan Grubaugh at the Yale School of Public Health spearheaded the test with Anne Wyllie, a research scientest, who together were hoping to increase the testing availability for COVID-19 while decreasing the time and cost of testing. Grubaugh says that "if cheap alternatives like SalivaDirect can be implemented across the country, we may finally get a handle on this pandemic, even before a vaccine." [FOX26].
The Yale School of Public Health will continue its partnership with their pathology department. They will also partner with The Jackson Labratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut to implement faster testing for more people.
Johns Hopkins University confirms there are over 5.3 million coronavirus cases in the United Stetes with over 170,000 deaths.
SOURCES: FOX26