Ghana 'pool testing' to increase virus detection

By Thomas Naadi

Ghana has adopted 'pool testing' of samples to maximise the use of coronavirus test kits which are in short supply globally.

It involves testing up to 10 samples in a single test. If any of the samples tests positive, then the entire batch is tested individually to identify the infected sample. 

Scientists believe that the method is a valuable time saver in the fight against Covid-19 and has seen Ghana test over 100,000 samples so far.

But it is only efficient while Ghana’s infection rates remain low and the accuracy of the method has been disputed in some quarters.

"The limitations come in when the majority of the wells test positive in which case you have to rerun the majority of the pooled samples again and you lose the benefit of the efficiency of doing them concurrently," says Nana Kofi Quakyi, a research fellow at New York University’s School of Public Health.

Germany and India have adopted similar methods in testing for the virus - allowing them to expand their screening capacity and improve detection in communities.

Ghana’s medical drones have being deployed to deliver Covid-19 samples directly to laboratories - the first country to do so in the world. 

This enables authorities to identify and isolate infected persons quickly and contain the spread of the virus.

This article originally appeared on BBC News

Photo: AFP