BSMMU says Gonoshasthaya kit ‘not effective’ for COVID-19 detections. But it’s not useless

Coronavirus rapid testing kits developed by Gonoshasthaya Kendra, known as “GR COVID-19 Dot Blot”, are not effective, BSMMU Vice-Chancellor Kanak Kanti Barua has said.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 17 June 2020, 08:02 AM
Updated : 17 June 2020, 10:23 AM

The kits were capable to accurately detect only 11-40% of COVID-19 cases in the first two weeks after those patients showed symptoms, according to Prof Barua.

“These kits are not effective for coronavirus detections,” he said at a media briefing in Dhaka on Wednesday.

The kits will, however, ‘help’ face the ongoing crisis and can be used to gauge the spread of the disease, Barua said.

The performance committee assessed 509 test kits before submitting the report. The kits can identify antibodies but cannot differentiate immunoglobulin M, which is developed in the patient’s body at the beginning of infection from immunoglobulin G, which is found in the later stage of the infection, Prof Barua said.

The test kits, however, can be used to understand the prevalence of the COVID-19 epidemic, he said. “It can identify 70 percent of the patients who have already suffered from COVID-19.”

The information from the antibody test can be used for plasma distribution, for fixing the quarantine period and determining the timeline to lift a lockdown, according to Prof Barua.

These test kits may become helpful in those areas where RT-PCR systems are not available, or for those who tested RT-PCR negative despite manifestation of COVID-19 symptoms.

Barua commented on an assessment report filed by a panel of experts earlier in the day.

Gonoshasthaya submitted 200 homegrown kits to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University for trials on May 13. The conclusion made by the university after 34 days of assessment partly dims hopes for rapid testing kits developed by Gonoshasthaya.

Prof Shahina Tabassum, a virologist who led the committee on the efficacy of the ‘rapid’ testing kits, submitted the evaluation report to Prof Barua on Wednesday.

Bangladesh relies only on the RT-PCR testing system for coronavirus diagnosis. It is viewed as the most reliable testing system in the world to detect the novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which causes the respiratory illness COVID-19.

“There’s nothing to worry’ about and we have full confidence in our test kits,” said Dr Bijan Kumar Shill, head of the Gonoshasthaya team that developed the kits.

“We don’t know anything about the report as yet and can speak in detail only after knowing it.”

The Gonoshasthaya announced the invention of the cheap and fast kits after the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the Bangladesh shores. The Directorate General of Drug Administration approved the import of reagents for the kits on Mar 19.

The private organisation had postponed an event scheduled for Apr 11 to hand samples of the kits to the DGDA, the World Health Organisation, BSMMU, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research and other organisations citing a “technical glitch”.

It later rescheduled the event to Apr 25, but Bangladesh’s government representatives shunned the event. Only representatives from the US government’s Centres for Disease Control attended the function.

Gonoshasthaya Kendra Trustee Zafrullah Chowdhury expressed gratitude to Foreign Minister AK Abdul Abul Momen, National Board of Revenue Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, customs officials and the DGDA for the import of reagents. He thanked the Prime Minister’s Office for its help to get blood specimen of COVID-19 patients.

But later, he accused the DGDA of time-wasting in approving its kit. He alleged the directorate also declined to receive samples of its kit.  

DGDA chief Maj Gen Mahbubur Rahman urged Gonoshasthaya Kendra not to indulge in ‘spreading false news’.

After a long conflict, Gonoshasthaya received permission to submit samples of the ‘rapid dot blot kits’ to BSMMU or ICDDRB for an assessment.

Gonoshasthaya submitted 200 sample kits to BSMMU and the authority announced its decision after 34 days.