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German institute claims to have developed new SARS test
Berlin, May 26: A German Research Institute claimed today to have developed a new test for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which can detect whether antibodies against the virus have formed in the blood.
Berlin, May 26: A German Research Institute claimed today to have developed a new test for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which can detect whether antibodies against the virus have formed in the blood.
The test is "an important step in positively diagnosing the disease and for studying the way the epidemic spreads," said Reinhard Kurth, president of the Robert Koch Institute.
The institute said in a statement that it hoped the test, claimed to be the first of its kind in the world, would be on the market within two weeks.
It said the test would help doctors and relatives of people infected with SARS to establish what risk they have of contracting the potentially fatal disease, which has infected almost 8,000 people worldwide and killed some 700.
The institute said that current tests, based on the so-called real time-PCR technique, cannot detect the illness in all patients showing symptoms of corona virus infection, believed to be behind SARS.
Bureau Report
The institute said in a statement that it hoped the test, claimed to be the first of its kind in the world, would be on the market within two weeks.
It said the test would help doctors and relatives of people infected with SARS to establish what risk they have of contracting the potentially fatal disease, which has infected almost 8,000 people worldwide and killed some 700.
The institute said that current tests, based on the so-called real time-PCR technique, cannot detect the illness in all patients showing symptoms of corona virus infection, believed to be behind SARS.
Bureau Report