A team of medical experts at Hackensack Meridian Health has developed a new test that can detect COVID-19 variants in just a matter of hours.
As COVID-19 variants become more prevalent, doctors are trying to figure out which ones they are dealing with and how they can effectively fight them every day.
Currently, the process in detecting a COVID-19 variant can take several days, which often can put patients’ lives at risk.
However, Hackensack Meridian Health President Bob Garrett says a team of doctors at the hospital has successfully created a diagnostic test that can identify different COVID-19 strains in a much shorter timeframe.
“This new test, that was developed by our Center for Discovery and Innovation, really is high throughput genetic sequencing test,” Garrett explains.
Rather than forcing patients to wait several days, the test can now effectively identify a COVID variant in just a matter of hours.
Garrett says the rapid identification can help save lives.
“It's really critical to get the results back in in real time because of its gonna take days or weeks, it might be too late then to start these treatments,” he said. “We know that the vaccines have been very effective against these variants, but there are certain treatment modalities that are better than others. So, it gives our clinicians really an opportunity to see this on a timely basis so they can then get the right clinical protocols into place.”
The hospital president notes that health officials in the state can also use the information to target vaccines to areas where COVID variants are prevalent.
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