Newcastle University team develops new ‘early warning’ test

A TEAM of British scientists has developed a simple test that could detect the earliest signs that someone has been infected with the Covid-19 virus, even before they start displaying symptoms.

The diagnostic test, which may even be conducted at home using blood, saliva or urine, could provide a result in seconds, in a similar way to a pregnancy test.

At the moment the two main tests being rolled out by the Government involve a swab, that possibly confirms that a person has Covid-19, and an antibody test, which seeks to identify whether they have had the infection in the past and have recovered.

Both tests are vital in establishing whether a person needs to self-isolate or whether they are safe to mix with others again and return to work.

The swab tests are usually carried out after a person has shown some of the classic symptoms and, by the time the results are known, the subject may have already infected many others. But, critically, even before symptoms are shown the person may be infectious but score negative on the test.

Scientists based in Newcastle upon Tyne believe a third type of test, which gives an early warning sign of infection, could be vital in stopping the further spread of the killer disease.

Colin Self, an emeritus professor at Newcastle University and the chief executive of Selective Antibodies Ltd, which developed the new test, has described it as a “belt and braces” option that could help slow the spread.

The test, which could be delivered to millions of homes by post, works by detecting a very early marker in the human body, which is released once the immune system has been activated after an infection.

Certain “immune activation molecules”, unleashed by the immune system as a result of infection can be detected even before any symptoms are noticed. One of these markers is called neopterin.

While the neopterin test does not specifically identify the Covid-19 infection, it does show that the immune system has been activated, likely by a viral infection, and could prove a powerful tool by acting as an early warning sign.

Prof Self said: “The neopterin test provides us with a very early indication that someone has an infection. It would be a complementary test in conjunction with other testing regimes and would allow us to take a beltand-braces approach to managing the disease.”