First COVID Kavach – Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

DEVELOPMENT

• The National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune has developed and validated the indigenous IgG Elisa test ‘Covid Kavach Elisa’ for antibody detection for Covid-19.
•  While real-time RT-PCR is the frontline test for clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, robust antibody tests are critical for surveillance.

TESTING COVID-19 – RT-PCR AND ANTIBODY TESTS

•  The present Covid-19 detection tests being carried out in the country are called PCR (polymerase chain reaction), which require nasal or throat swabs. It takes about five hours for the results to come out. The Health Ministry has announced that the real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR is the ‘gold standard’ frontline test for COVID-19. India is manufacturing RT-PCR

ANTIBODY

•  Anti-body tests also known as serological tests, are used to find out the presence of virus in a body. In this method of testing, blood samples are used to find anti-bodies. This process also detects the quantity of antibodies that are produced by the immune system.

ANTIBODY

•  It is an indirect method of testing as it cannot find the virus, but can determine if the immune system has encountered it. Anti-bodies can show up between 9-28 days after the infection has set in. By this time, an infected person can spread the disease, if not isolated.
• NOTES
•  The National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune has developed and validated the indigenous IgG Elisa test ‘Covid Kavach Elisa’ for antibody detection for Covid-19. While real-time RT-PCR is the frontline test for clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, robust antibody tests are critical for surveillance. The indigenous test will eliminate the need for low-quality Chinese kits — recently, Indian Council of Medical Research had to return about 500,000 such kits after they malfunctioned, with variable results.

DETAILS

• ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay)

What are antibodies?

• An antibody is a large, Y-shaped protein produced mainly by plasma cells that are used by the immune system to neutralize pathogens such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses.
• There are five immunoglobulin classes (isotypes) of antibody molecules found in serum: IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE and IgD.
• The testing kit would help experts in determining the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in the Indian population. Reportedly, Zydus Cadila, a Gujarat-based firm, has been roped in for mass production of the test kits.

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