An immunoassay analyzer is used to test patient samples for the presence and concentration of a variety of substances, usually using an antibody as a reagent to, in turn, identify the substance in question. These substances include infectious diseases; allergies; endocrine hormones; and protein, viral, or bacterial toxins.
Brief Overview
It has been a little over a year now since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 a pandemic. The potential of Covid-19 severity in high risk populations, its high rate of transmission, and its rather stable state in any environment largely informed this decision. Just how a strange respiratory disease in China morphed into one of the biggest pandemics to ever plague mankind is incredibly horrifying.
We have definitely come a long way since then though. Armed with vaccines, a host of containment measures have been implemented all over the world, which is a far cry from the confusion and the melee the world was thrust into when the disease was just starting out.
Not a whole lot of people, though, really understand that Covid-19 severity ranges from being asymptomatic, to fever with mild respiratory illness, to critically acute respiratory distress syndrome and death from respiratory failure or related difficulties. It’s not uncommon for most people diagnosed with Covid-19 to assume they have one foot in the grave already, but it’s actually more of a slow, winding curve.
How to Detect Covid-19
One of the best interventions to control Covid-19 transmission is its early detection.
Whether you are looking to develop a Covid-19 test or you simply need a secure employee-testing solution for your organization, you’ll first have to test for and detect the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2), which causes the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Nucleic Amplification Tests
For accurate diagnosis of covid cases, the WHO guidelines expressly state that suspected Covid-19 cases are confirmed by detection of highly unique sequences of the virus RNA through nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) also known as the (rRT-PCR) test.
Although this test is highly sensitive in confirming Covid-19 cases early; it is time consuming, requires costly specialized equipment and highly-qualified laboratory staff. Furthermore, false negative results are not that hard to come by. This is due to low viral loads in the first week of showing symptoms, Covid-19 being virtually undetectable before the first 14 days.
Serological Tests
Although they might be below the detection limit of (rRT-PCR) tests, serological tests, also known as serology or antibody tests are faster, cheaper, and deliver more output with a lot less workload.
Essentially, serological tests are most useful:
- When diagnosing patients more than 7 days after the onset of symptoms.
- When diagnosing patients with negative RT-PCR test and strong symptoms suggesting COVID-19 infection.
- In contact tracing.
To test for Covid-19 severity, serology tests are carried out on a sample of blood serum to identify antibodies closely associated with the disease. When it comes to choosing the most appropriate immunoassay testing platform for this, it’s best to keep in mind some of the ways to accurately diagnose Covid-19 using serology-based tests. They include: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, (ELISAs) Chemiluminescent immunoassays, (CLIAs) and Latent flow Immunoassays. (LFIAs)
Whether enzyme, fluorescence, or chemiluminescence; it’s best to consider all factors in order to use an immunoassay testing platform with the highest sensitivity for accurate results. Enter a laboratory analyzer. It is fed with an appropriate immunoassay testing platform to obtain the most accurate results.
A laboratory analyzer typically includes an autosampler, a reagent dispenser, a washer, and a detection system. They may be fully automated to reduce workload too.
