COVID-19 Research

COVID-19 antibody tests evaluated as diagnostic test in low-resource settings

School of Medicine news release •
Yuefang Huang, a senior research technician at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, performs rapid COVID-19 antibody tests as part of an effort to evaluate whether such tests can be used to diagnose COVID-19 in places with limited resources.
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With Brazil leading the world in newly diagnosed COVID-19 cases, Latin America has become the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, outbreaks continue to escalate in parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Public health authorities worldwide desperately need to expand testing so they can track the spread of the infection, but molecular diagnostic tests used in the U.S. and other wealthy countries are too expensive for widespread use in many low- and middle-income countries.  Antibody tests may provide an alternative approach.