Hackensack Meridian Healths Center for Discovery and Innovation Develops Advanced Test to Track and Diagnose COVID19 Variants
What you need to know
- Experts at the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) have developed a high-throughput test that can detect multiple variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in two-and-a-half hours.
- The test can detect the known UK, Brazil, and South African variants, as well as others containing the key E484K mutation, which are gaining prominence as the virus evolves.
Details about CDI's Test
The results likely indicate that variants are increasing in prevalence in hospitals and communities across New Jersey – and that mass vaccination is more important than ever, since the vaccines remain effective against all forms of SARS-CoV-2 to date.
The CDI’s test, which assessed samples from New Jersey patients from December 2020 through February 2021, found the virus variants increasing in prominence. Among 435 nasal swab samples at eight hospitals and other care sites across the Hackensack Meridian Health network, the E484K variant was found at a rate of 12 percent of all samples in February 2021. The N501Y variant followed in prevalence in 2021 with 11 percent.
These findings are from a variety of care settings within Hackensack Meridian Health and located throughout New Jersey. Since the variants were detected in multiple locations, it’s highly likely that the variants are going undetected in other parts of the state.
These "immune-escape" variants carrying the E484K mutation are also concerning because they have been linked in other countries with re-infection.
While the E484K mutation appears to make the virus resistant to certain treatments, like particular monoclonal antibodies, the major COVID-19 vaccines are still broadly effective against preventing severe disease. Vaccination is still key to beating COVID-19, according to Perlin.
A real-time understanding of viral evolution and the landscape of virus variants in our region is part of an overall strategy, along with testing and vaccination, to help our community and patients overcome COVID-19.
The CDI has sequenced more than 2,500 viruses and is working with the State of New Jersey to develop the most complete picture of the viral landscape yet assembled. This new high-throughput tool allows resources for whole genome sequencing to be directed against the most concerning viruses.