The threat of Ebola continues, as two new cases have been reported in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It has been around three weeks since the last one. And as the disease finds its way in one of the populated slum areas in the country, another crisis is not impossible.
Fortunately, there's already a more efficient way of diagnosing Ebola, and it takes only a single prick on the finger, the results of which can be made available in minutes.
Dr. Nira Pollock of Boston Children's Hospital is a study co-author. Their work has been recently published in Lancet. According to her, this new test is significant as standard Ebola exams take a while, about a few days, before the results can come in. Knowing how the virus can destroy the body very quickly, time is surely of the essence for any patient when it comes to treatment.
Moreover, when the disease occurs, some of the first symptoms can include chest pain, cough, and low-grade fever, which are vague since they are also found in other common diseases.
Ebola also has an incubation period of as long as 21 days, giving enough time for the carrier to travel. Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed of Ebola in the United States, was infected when he was still in Liberia. However, due to the incubation period, he was still able to fly. He later died but infected two of the nurses who took care of him. This test is therefore beneficial in entry points such as ports, borders, and airports.
The team determined the effectiveness of the test in Sierra Leone, one of the three regions in West Africa with the highest mortality rate during the recent Ebola crisis. They compared the results of the single prick and the standard test of 106 patients, and the sensitivity rate is 100%. Not only that, the test also revealed positive results that were not caught by the standard test.