A team of local researchers have developed a low-cost RT-PCR kit that they say is capable of detecting coronavirus infection in the human body more accurately and even before any symptoms arise.

The kit, which was developed by Bangladesh Council of Science and Industry Research in collaboration with the University of Dhaka's microbiology department and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University's virology department, targets a new gene of the coronavirus.

The RT-PCR kits are developed by targeting coronavirus genes like N, E, S and ORF1AB etc, so any changes in the gene structure of the virus due to mutation can make the kits unable to detect the virus.

The BCSIR kit was developed by targeting the M gene, which usually does not change over time, according to Ibrahim Miah, one of the researchers.

"So, the kit can be used for a long time without any upgradation."

As the kit targets the M protein, it also gives a more accurate result, said Miah, who is also an assistant professor at DU's microbiology department.

He also explained how this kit can detect Covid-19 patients who show no symptoms.

The detection capability of any available RT-PCR kit depends on how many viruses exist in per millilitre of a given sample.

The other kits can detect Covid-19 if there are 1,000 viruses/millilitre but the BCSIR kit can detect it even if there are only 100 viruses/millilitre.

"It means the BCSIR kit is 10 times more sensitive than all other RT-PCR kits," Miah told The Daily Star yesterday.

During the trial on 200 samples, the kit showed 98 percent sensitivity compared to the gold standard kit, while two other kits showed about 92 percent sensitivity.

"This is a really a commendable invention by our own scientists," said Tajul Islam A Bari, former project manager of the health directorate's Expanded Programme on Immunisation.

After a year-long trial, the Bangladesh Medical and Research Council and the Directorate General of Drug Administration approved the kit for commercial use, with BSMMU becoming the first organisation to deploy it at their RT-PCR laboratory.

"This kit is hundred times better than any other kit," said Sharfuddin Ahmed, vice-chancellor of BSMMU, while inaugurating the kit yesterday.

It will allow Covid-19 testing service faultlessly and at a cheaper rate, he said.

Each kit will cost Tk 250.

The invention also means the country would be saving up on scarce foreign currency reserves: the kits currently being used in the country's 57 government-own and 105 private-own RT-PCR Covid-19 testing laboratories are imported from China, South Korea and the US.

The import price of each kit ranges from Tk 120 to Tk 1,000, according to DGDA officials.

Considering this, a huge amount of foreign currency was spent to import the kits during the pandemic, when more than 1.34 crore samples were tested using the RT-PCR method.

"We hope it will be possible to supply this kit countrywide. As a result, importing kits by spending dollars will no longer be needed," Ahmed said.

The country is much dependent on imports for medical devices and the pandemic has exposed the downside of such dependency, said Nasrin Sultana, a professor of health economics at DU.

"The invention of the BCSIR kit is definitely good news for the country," she told The Daily Star.