Saline Gargle RT-PCR Method'
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Context
- Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has transferred the know-how of indigenously developed Saline Gargle RT-PCR technique, used for testing COVID-19 samples.
About
- It is simple, fast, cost-effective, patient-friendly and comfortable; it also offers instant results and is well-suited for rural and tribal areas, given minimal infrastructure requirements.
- The method is non-invasive and so simple that the patient herself can collect the sample.
Method
- Collection methods like nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab collection require technical expertise; they are also time-consuming.
- In contrast, the Saline Gargle RT-PCR method uses a simple collection tube filled with saline solution.
- The patient gargles the solution and rinses it inside the tube.
- This sample in the collection tube is taken to the laboratory where it is kept at room temperature, in a special buffer solution prepared by NEERI.
- An RNA template is produced when this solution is heated, which is further processed for Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR).
- This particular method of collecting and processing the sample enables to save on the otherwise costly infrastructural requirement of RNA extraction.