Medical workers conduct rapid COVID-19 tests for people in Lê Lợi Commune and vendors at Hà Vỹ Poultry Wholesale Market in Hanoi's Thường Tín District last month.
If the ELISA test kits are certificated by Vietnam's Health Ministry and permitted for mass production, Vietnam would be able to stop importing kits from S Korea.
Antigens are a substance that promote the production of antibodies in the body.According to the World Health Organisation, the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) are the most widely used type of assay. They have evolved from viral lysate tests to tests containing recombinant protein and synthetic peptide antigens.
At that time, Vietnam was one of the first four countries in the world to have isolated the new strain.
At present, there are only two testing methods for SARS-CoV-2: the real-time PCR and the rapid test for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis which provides qualitative detection of IgG and/or IgM from human serum, Đức Anh said,
The rapid ELISA test could test multiple blood samples at the same time, he said.
The ELISA tests are also used to diagnose HIV, dengue and other diseases.
According to the Ministry of Health, Việt Nam had become the fifth country in the world to successfully produce an antibody test for the new coronavirus.They also cost only US$5, much cheaper than imported kits.
The new test would mean the country could ensure the medicine used for COVID-19 treatment regimens, face masks, protective suits and ventilators, as well as methods for testing, screening and detecting COVID-19 patients, the newspaper reported.
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