'FELUDA' test to roll out in next few weeks: Harsh Vardhan


New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that rollout of the indigenously-developed faster and cheaper "FELUDA" Covid-19 test is expected in the next few weeks.

"While I cannot put an exact date on the availability, we should expect this test within the next few weeks," he said.

The FNCAS9 Editor-Limited Uniform Detection Assay (FELUDA) test is a paper strip test, similar to a pregnancy test, and has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India for a commercial launch.

Named after the renowned detective created by Satyajit Ray, the test was developed by Tata CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's (CSIR) Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB).

Developed by Dr Souvik Maiti and Dr Debojyoti Chakraborty at the CSIR-IGIB, FELUDA has been touted to provide results in 45 minutes and is priced Rs 500.

Harsh Vardhan also said that based on tests of over 2,000 patients during the trials at the IGIB and on testing in private labs, the test showed 96 per cent sensitivity and 98 per cent specificity. He also said that the test has already been validated by the Department of Atomic Energy's Bengaluru-based National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore.

FELUDA is an alternative to the quantitative RT-PCR tests and experts found it highly specific. As per the experts, it is capable of detecting low copy number nucleic acids (less viral RNA quantity) as well as single nucleotide variations. It can distinguish between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV sequences which differ by a single nucleotide.

While RT-PCR needs a few hours, trained manpower and a dedicated and expensive machine, FELUDA provides similar sensitivity and specificity but requires only a basic widely available PCR machine and no extensively trained manpower.

  

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Comment on this article

  • Dev, Mangalore

    Sun, Oct 11 2020

    Latest report by WHO-
    Corona is just like or less fatal than Flu!
    NO media will air it, if they do they won't get paid by Gates!
    US -CDC has reported the same & admitted they made a mistake in calculating fatality rate in the beginning(provisional figure- 3.4% in March)
    Global population 7.8 billion
    10% got infected(estimate) = 780 million.
    Global Death Toll till today-1,061,559
    based on the above Infection Fatality Rate 0.14%, which is right in line with Seasonal Flu.
    New Development based on data & facts Dr Fuellmich of Germany has initiated a court case titled- Corona Fraud Scandal in Germany & had invited all international lawyers to fight the cases too.
    His case proposes that the tool for spreading the false story of a global Pandemic, the PCR has been misused, abused. His case will call out several top officials in Germany including the person who "Created" the PCR to proclaim & market this Catastrophic Fraud.
    Time for our nation to come out of WHO & stand on its own leg & never let any outside powers to dictate rules & regulation based on their design to us.

    DisAgree Agree [4] Reply Report Abuse

  • k b r, Mangala Uru

    Sun, Oct 11 2020

    where is vaccine / affordable treatment for common man...

    DisAgree [5] Agree [9] Reply Report Abuse

  • Dr Deepak rai, Usa/mangalore

    Sun, Oct 11 2020

    Vaccine is not like making coffee it takes time and that too for a virus which is completely new for everyone. Don't expect health officials to wake up one day and be ready with vaccines. Once a vaccine is ready it has many stages to pass not these 3 only. We have to check for side effects,see if it effective for everyone,study the side effects etc. Tomorrow if some vaccine is produced without the complete testing and all and if fatalities happen you will again point fingers at us. Hold your patience maintain social distance, wear masks and if possible stay at home

    DisAgree [6] Agree [9] Reply Report Abuse

  • geoffrey, hat hill

    Sun, Oct 11 2020

    Doc, some were very optimistic about getting a vac by 15th August, latest by 3rd November for reasons you can well imagine. But unfortunately medical science doesn't run on optimism and 'gut feeling'.

    DisAgree [3] Agree [11] Reply Report Abuse

  • Dr Deepak rai, Usa/mangalore

    Sun, Oct 11 2020

    Whoever wants to release the vaccine is not up to the pm or president. Once the vaccine is proved only it will be allowed for use. In beginning stages yes it was believed that India's vaccine can be ready by 15 August it's not a lie, but when time came it wasn't possible. Good thing is India has 3 vaccines all looking promising. But ATM I feel it's Oxfords which might be the earliest one

    DisAgree [7] Agree [6] Report Abuse

  • k b r, Mangala Uru

    Sun, Oct 11 2020

    making vaccine is not like making coffee... sorry... not like making chai...

    DisAgree [2] Agree Reply Report Abuse


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