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New Blood Test Can Reveal Every Virus You’ve Ever Had

09/06/2015

New Blood Test Can Reveal Every Virus You’ve Ever HadCapture d’écran 2015-06-09 à 11.48.00

With just a single drop of your blood, VirScan can identify every virus you’ve ever had in your life and it can do so for around just $25.

The research, which was recently published in the journal Science, could be vital for the diagnosis and treatment of viruses going forward. Contagious viruses with few obvious symptoms, like Hepatitis C, could become a thing of the past.

Stephen Elledge, the lead author of the study, said: “There are people walking around with chronic Hepatitis C infections that have no idea they have them. Now imagine if this was a routine test that was done every time you went to the doctor. With things like Hep C, the earlier you treat them, the better."

Imagine being able to walk into your doctor’s surgery and have a quick test to discover what previous viruses you’ve had, instead of filling out one of those tedious and often long-winded forms.

Plus, the test may even pick up some viruses that you didn’t know you’d had!

Once your body has defeated a virus, some of the special white blood cells that were released by your immune system at the time are then kept for reference purposes. Your body uses them as a reminder and to keep you protected from that same virus in the future.

The study itself involved 569 people from the United States, Thailand, Peru and South Africa. It found that on average the participants tested positive for 10 species of virus. The most common being the flu, the common cold and gastrointestinal viruses.

 

Photo credit: L'Express
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