Multiplexed Covid-19-Flu-20 Antigen-Antibody Testing (COVIDFLU)

该项目的重点是开发两种快速、即时的COVID-19/流感检测，可用于检测一个人的冠状病毒和流感抗原（显示他们目前是否感染了任何一种病毒）和抗体（显示他们以前是否感染过病毒）。测试将需要5-7分钟才能完成，因此结果可以在测试中心/咨询处提供给患者。这些测试将同时评估患者的两种病毒，使医疗保健专业人员能够区分具有相似症状的疾病，例如，将患者分流到医院的不同区域以减缓病毒的传播。MHRA目前批准在英国使用的抗体测试使用从患者手臂抽取的血液;该项目将首先通过增加流感抗体检测来改进已经批准的COVID-19抗体测试，其次测试是否可以通过从手指刺破的血液达到相同的灵敏度。这些发展将允许对患者进行快速评估，以检查他们是否适合接种流感疫苗（一些高危患者可能因COVID-19而受到持久损害，使他们容易受到流感注射的影响），以及在接种疫苗后，他们的流感疫苗是否会诱导免疫反应。目前在英国还没有批准的COVID-19抗原检测。目前用于诊断COVID-19的测试是鼻拭子后的聚合酶链反应（PCR）测试。这种测试只有80%的准确性，具有缓慢的周转（大多数需要24小时），并且在正确执行时对患者非常不舒服，这意味着公众不太可能在家中正确遵循这些步骤，儿童也不太可能遵守。基于唾液的测试对患者来说既简单又舒适，因为他们只需将唾液吐到试管中。该项目将专注于开发一种快速，准确，基于唾液的抗原检测，能够在7分钟内诊断COVID-19和/或四种不同的流感病毒株。这项测试的速度将彻底改变英国的测试，因为它将允许在机场，会议和体育赛事等场所对数千人进行快速准确的筛查，以阻止人们将病毒传播给他人，同时允许英国经济重新启动，生活恢复正常。如果时间和资金允许，该研究将继续研究同时测量唾液中的抗体，并使测试手持供公众在家使用。

This project is focused on the development of two rapid, point-of-care COVID-19/flu tests that can be used to test a person for both coronavirus and flu antigens (showing whether they currently HAVE either of the viruses) and antibodies (showing whether they have previously HAD the viruses). The tests would take 5-7 mins to complete and thus results could be given to a patient at the testing centre/consultation. The tests would assess the patient for both viruses simultaneously, allowing healthcare professionals to distinguish between diseases with similar symptoms and, for example, triage patients to different areas of hospitals to slow the spread of the viruses. Antibody tests currently approved for use in the UK by the MHRA use blood drawn from a patient's arm; this project will firstly improve an already-approved COVID-19 antibody test by the addition of flu antibody detection, and secondly test whether the same sensitivity can be achieved through blood pricked from a finger. These developments would allow quick assessment of patients to check their suitability for a flu vaccine (some at-risk patients may have lasting damage from COVID-19 making them vulnerable to a flu injection) and, post-vaccine, whether their flu vaccine induced an immune response. There is currently no approved antigen test for COVID-19 in the UK. The test currently used to diagnose COVID-19 is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test following a nose swab. This test has only 80% accuracy, has a slow turnaround (most take \>24h), and is very uncomfortable for patients when performed properly, meaning the public is unlikely to follow the steps properly at home and children are unlikely to comply. A saliva-based test would be easy and comfortable for patients to perform as they would simply have to spit into a tube. This project will focus on the development of a rapid, accurate, saliva-based antigen test that will be able to diagnose COVID-19 and/or four different strains of the flu in 7 minutes. The speed of this test would revolutionise UK testing, as it would allow fast and accurate screening of thousands of people at, for example, airports, conferences, and sports events, to stop people spreading the viruses onto others while allowing the UK economy to restart and lives to return to normal. If time and funds permit, the study will progress to look at measuring antibodies in saliva simultaneously and making the tests hand-held for use by the public at home.