Accelerating SARS-CoV-2 SEroprevalence SurveyS Through Dried Blood Spots (ASSESS-DBS)
- Funded by Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
- Total publications:0 publications
Grant number: unknown
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Key facts
Disease
COVID-19Funder
Michael Smith Foundation for Health ResearchPrincipal Investigator
Muhammad MorshedResearch Location
CanadaLead Research Institution
University of British ColumbiaResearch Priority Alignment
N/A
Research Category
Pathogen: natural history, transmission and diagnostics
Research Subcategory
Diagnostics
Special Interest Tags
N/A
Study Type
Non-Clinical
Clinical Trial Details
N/A
Broad Policy Alignment
Pending
Age Group
Not Applicable
Vulnerable Population
Not applicable
Occupations of Interest
Not applicable
Abstract
Phase 4 of BC's Restart Plan requires community immunity but seroprevalence studies of people who are street entrenched, in prison, or live in remote or rural communities is challenging. The most accurate serology tests are lab-based Enzyme-Linked Immuno Assays (EIAs) that use blood drawn from veins, but with people who are not engaged into care, or who have collapsed veins due injection drug use or obesity, it's not a viable option. Point-of-care tests (PoCT) that use blood collected through finger prick (like a glucose test) seems to offer a solution but these tests lack specificity and therefore can't provide an accurate picture. We propose evaluating dried blood spot (DBS) which seems to offer the accuracy of EIAs and the ease of collection of a PoCT to determine BC seroprevalence.