Coronavirus: How the Corona Test Is Done?

The entire world is running along with one news that is CORONAVIRUS. India reported more than 900 positive cases and nearing something around 30 deaths. The good news is only those who already have pneumonia symptoms and those who are above 65 years have lost their lives as of now.

There are around 70 people who already got recovered and discharged. In this article, we are going to talk about how the corona test is done and the different steps involved in the testing corona. And how do the doctors confirm whether the outcome of the tested sample is positive or negative?

First of all the testing can be conducted only in some specialized labs that are available only in some metro cities in India. Corona testing is done in 5 different stages. They are swab test, nasal aspirate, tracheal aspirate, sputum test and finally the blood test.

Here we are going to discuss each one of them.

SWAB TEST:

In this test a cotton absorbent. This cotton absorbent is called a swab. This swab is sent into the patient’s throat or nose. It absorbs the saliva from the throat and mucus from the nose. 

NASAL ASPIRATE:

The doctor injects a saline solution into the nose of the patient and takes it back into a closed testing tube.

TRACHEAL ASPIRATE:

Bronchoscope, a thin tube will be sent into the patient’s lungs. It collects all the samples in the lungs. And those samples are again collected into the test tubes.

SPUTUM TEST:

In this test, the mucus of the patient has collected again this time directly from the lungs, unlike the swab test.

Finally, the blood samples are collected and it will be tested first with all the other infections and viral flu-like diseases such as Malaria, Typhoid, Dengue etc., Then after confirming that those are not the virus present in the patient, then a specialized gene sequencing test is done which finally confirms whether the patient is infected with the novel coronavirus.

Drugs that re being used now:

As of now, there are no specified drugs to treat the novel coronavirus. But the doctors have been using the medicines that are used for diseases like Swine flu, HIV.

China used the first approved drug to be used for corona called FAVILAVIR. The drug showed positive outcomes with minimal side effects. During the clinical trials on 70 patients, almost everyone had a positive outcome but witnessed a few side effects. Lopinavir, Ritonavir is being mostly used in India as of now. Those two are the standard drugs used for HIV. I hope the standard medicine and vaccine would be available very soon.

This for now. Please let us know the feedback.