Gonoshasthaya to give BSMMU 1,200 kits from May 9 for validation

Gonoshasthaya Kendra will start giving 1,200 home-manufactured rapid testing kits in phases to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) from Saturday for validation.

"We are ready with our kits. We can give them any time, but they (BSMMU) wanted the kits from Saturday –in small installments," Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, founder and trustee of Gonoshasthaya Kendra told The Daily Star today.

BSMMU will conduct tests on both Covid-19 positive patients and unknown persons to understand the accuracy of the test kit – Rapid Dot Blot – developed by scientists at Gonoshasthaya Kendra. The tests will also be compared to those conducted by RT-PCR kits, he said.

RT-PCR, which is considered the gold standard for testing Covid-19, is costly, but rapid test kit is priced lower and can yield results in five to ten minutes.  It is used by many countries for large-scale testing as per recommendation by epidemiologists.

Rapid Dot Blot can test both antibodies and antigen in blood, claimed Dr Zafrullah. He also said the accuracy level of this kit is more than 90 percent, bringing it quite close to RT-PCR.

Earlier on April 30, the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) had permitted Gonoshasthaya Kendra to have their kits independently validated by the BSMMU.

On May 2, BSMMU formed a committee headed by Professor Dr Shaheena Tabassum of the virology department. The committee first sought all scientific documents on the development of Rapid Dot Blot and then began preparing a protocol for validation. The protocol is expected to be finalised tomorrow, said Zafrullah Chowdhury.

"This is an emergency period. A lot of people are being infected each and every day. We want validation of our kit in a fast-track manner," he added.