Approve rapid test kits swiftly
Gonoshasthaya Kendra yesterday urged the drug administration to approve its rapid antibody test kit which proved to be effective in testing antibodies in people who recovered from Covid-19.
"We are grateful to the technical committee at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University for recommending the antibody kit developed by Gonoshasthaya RNA Biotech Ltd. We hope the drug administration will implement the recommendation, register and approve its distribution at the earliest, considering the emergency," Gonoshasthaya Kendra Founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury said in a statement yesterday.
Gonoshasthaya received the performance trial report from the BSMMU on Thursday.
Trialing the antibody kit on 509 samples, the BSMMU on June 17 concluded that the GR Covid-19 Rapid Dot Blot Immunoassay Kit works correctly 70 percent of the time.
Zafrullah said this year was the birth centenary of Banbabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who named Gonoshasthaya and approved its land acquisition. The BSMMU, which is named after Banbabandhu, found the kit effective.
BSMMU and Gonoshasthaya have jointly brought the good news for the nation during such a critical period of time. "Everyone should be congratulated for this. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made special arrangements for this kit with high hopes."
Zafrullah read in the news that drug administration Director General Maj Gen Md Mahbubur Rahman said the kit would be promptly registered if it got a positive report.
"That's really logical. We are awaiting the drug administration's decision," he said, adding that he hopes no time will be wasted in the process.
The kit can trace the coronavirus in 11 percent of the cases in the first week of infection and in 40 percent of the cases in the second week. BSMMU recommended that the kit could be used for testing in places where the standard RT-PCR facilities were not available. It could also be used on those who did not test positive for coronavirus in the RT-PCR tests despite showing symptoms.
The BSMMU also recommended that the antibody kit be used to assess the proportion of the population which got infected and recovered. The information is useful in terms of plasma distribution and in deciding when to enforce or lift restrictions.
Covid-19 infections and deaths are rising every day and people should make the best use of the kit, leaving behind the differences in opinions, Zafrullah said.
The BSMMU vice chancellor said the kit was not efficient in detecting Covid-19 for treatment purposes.
Zafrullah later told The Daily Star the efficiency of the kit was a matter of scientific discussion.
"Development of the kit is a continuous process. We seek continuous assistance from the BSMMU," he said.
"We hope they will soon complete the performance trial of Gonoshasthaya antigen kit."
Antigen kit's performance trial was suspended as Gonoshasthaya, in a letter to the BSMMU on June 2, sought its suspension after a joint team of scientists from the BSMMU and Gonoshasthaya identified that there were discrepancies in collecting samples.
Gonoshasthay developed a device to collect samples. Those devices will be supplied to the BSMMU at the soonest for starting the antigen kit's trial, Zafrullah said.
Gonoshasthaya Kendra scientists say combined tests of antibody and antigen can ensure more than 90 percent accuracy in detecting the coronavirus.
Dr Bijon Kumar Sil, leader of the team of scientists who developed the kit, said, "We hope drug administration will soon implement the recommendations of the BSMMU. That's our expectation."
He also urged the BSMMU to conduct the performance trial of the antigen kit at the earliest.
Zafrullah told The Daily Star: "It was a great achievement of both Gonoshasthya and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital. However, there was no celebration though a national organisation developed a kit and it was successful."
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