One reason why the coronavirus was able to spread easily is the inability to detect the virus in the asymptomatic stage. The story is told of a reverend in Washington DC who was down with the flu and thought he had recovered. He then went on to give Holy Communion and shook hands with hundreds of parishioners. Unfortunately, he later tested positive for COVID-19 but by then he had already infected several others. Another one, three attendees at a Biogen conference in Boston attendees who showed no symptoms during the meeting later tested positive for COVID-19. Boston currently has 284 confirmed cases as of March 25 and 104 were linked to the conference.

In order to stem the tide, The New York Community Trust has launched a crowdfunding exercise on Indiegogo for a test that could help detect Coronavirus and COVID-19 cases before they start exhibiting any symptoms. The funding could provide testing for a large number of persons who may have been infected in order to quickly identify them before they can expose others. Such patients usually don’t show symptoms like a fever, cough or difficulty breathing.

A recent research conducted by a team led by Jeffrey Shaman, PhD at the Columbia University Mailman School discovered that two-thirds of all documented infections in China were caused by undocumented infections with mild, limited, or no symptoms. According to Dr. Shaman: “Depending on their contagiousness and numbers, undetected cases can expose a far greater portion of the population to the virus than would otherwise occur.”

The C3 Test, as it is called, is a multiplex assay with a high level of accuracy, is ultra-sensitive and rapid. The samples can be processed in large quantities, thus speeding up the waiting time for those who may be in line to get tested. The test was created by Dr. Ian Lipkin, an internationally renowned expert on pathogen discovery, and his team at the Columbia University Mailman School’s Center for Immunity and Infection (CII).

Most importantly, the C3 Test can accurately detect coronavirus infection even among patients with low viral loads thus exhibiting no symptoms, with results ready in four hours. the test can also be carried out outside the hospital settings.

Importantly, this new C3 Test can decrease both false negatives and false positives, reducing not only the number of people who unknowingly spread the virus, but also reducing resources spent on quarantining or treating those who are ill due to something else.

In addition, the Lipkin team is working on multiple strategies for prevention and treatment and this diagnostic capability provides the foundation for these parallel efforts. Thus if you back this project, you are also helping find a possible treatment for the disease apart from providing rapid tests to a large number of persons.

Both New York Community Trust and Indiegogo have been magnanimous to waive all fees and costs in connection with the contributions to the fund. If you would like to back this project, follow this link.

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