The key to a gradual loosening of containment measures may well depend on the large-scale deployment of a new type of testing. So-called serological, their purpose is to identify people who have already been infected with Covid-19 and who would therefore be immune. In the event of a positive result, the latter could thus be authorized to resume their activities without risking infecting other individuals.
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So far, only diagnostic tests used to detect the presence of the virus genome in samples taken from the bottom of the nasal cavity have been widely used in the population. Serological tests carried out using a blood test, or even sometimes a single drop of blood deposited on a strip, look for the presence of specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, a sign that the immune system has been exposed to the virus.
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Developed by dozens of laboratories and companies, many of these devices are still being evaluated in order to ensure their reliability and prevent, in particular, that they generate false positives.
In Switzerland too
“These tests are very important in terms of epidemiological monitoring,” explains Nathalie Jacobs, professor of virology and member of the GIGA Cellular and Molecular Immunology Laboratory at the University of Liège. Not only do they allow us to estimate what proportion of the population has already been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, but they also offer the possibility of capturing all asymptomatic people who would not have been detected through diagnostic tests targeting the virus. This will make it possible to have a much more precise idea of the actual lethality linked to the Covid-19. “
Several laboratories in Switzerland, including the Institute of Neuropathology at the University Hospital of Zurich, the Virology Laboratory of the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) and the Microbiology Institute of the CHUV in Lausanne, are developing their own serological tests. On the HUG side, a vast longitudinal and experimental research of two months duration was also launched on March 30 in order to test collaborators, but also 1000 volunteers who have already participated in previous epidemiological and representative studies of the Geneva population.
