Vietnam is the 5th country in the world to successfully produce antibody testing biological products.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam at a meeting of the National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of Acute Respiratory Infections Caused by the New Coronavirus (Covid-19) on the morning of April 27. Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam

Although today is the 11th day Vietnam has had no community infections, the Steering Committee requests ministries and branches, based on the guidance of the Government and the Ministry of Health, to continue reviewing specific guidelines to ensure safety, disease prevention and control in their management areas. Localities should refer to the experience of some provinces and cities such as Ho Chi Minh City to develop criteria to assess the level of safety, disease prevention and control suitable for activities in life, daily life, production, business, etc. in the area.

Many countries order testing reagents from Vietnam

At the meeting, the Steering Committee discussed testing for SARS-CoV-2 virus to serve the prevention and control of Covid-19 epidemic in the coming time.

Currently, the world is implementing two parallel testing methods to identify people positive for Covid-19: virus gene testing (PCR method) and antibody testing (often used for rapid testing).

The PCR method is highly accurate because it directly detects the virus's genes, so at the time of a positive test, the patient is definitely carrying the SARS-CoV-2 virus in their body. However, this method requires highly specialized steps, requires experts to perform it with many complex machines, and takes a long time to get results (several hours).

Meanwhile, the rapid antibody test method takes a short time, is simple to operate, and does not require specialized training or special equipment. However, this method has much lower sensitivity and specificity than the PCR method, making it easy to make mistakes and miss results.

Therefore, the PCR method is often used to confirm rapid test results.

In disease prevention and control, combining both gene detection testing (PCR) and antibody testing (rapid testing) will help control the epidemic quickly, reduce medical pressure and focus resources on treating cases that are actually infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Regarding the PCR testing method, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long said that at first, we used biological products from abroad (from the World Health Organization (WHO), CDC USA, Germany). After that, Vietnam developed a very good PCR testing biological product to replace foreign sources (biological products developed by the Military Medical Academy in collaboration with Viet A Company). This biological product has been and is being used mainly in Vietnam to test for SARS-CoV-2 virus.

To date, we have tested about 212,000 samples, detected 270 cases of Covid-19, with a positive detection rate of about 0.13%, one of the countries with the highest positive detection rate of total tested samples in the world.

Currently, the country has 112 Realtime - PCR testing laboratories capable of testing for SARS-CoV-2 (maximum capacity of about 27,000 samples/day), of which 48 laboratories have been licensed to confirm Covid-19 testing (maximum capacity of about 14,300 samples/day).

In addition, the Ministry of Health has reviewed the entire PCR testing system available at the enterprise to mobilize, without the need for additional equipment.

Vietnam's PCR test kits have been recognized for quality by WHO and the UK and can be used globally.

Meeting scene. Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam

Successful production of rapid test reagents

Regarding the antibody testing method (rapid testing), according to the leader of the Ministry of Health, recently, in Vietnam, only Hanoi city has implemented this method, using Korean biological products, sponsored by enterprises. The city has tested a total of 18,450 samples, detected 50 positive cases, but after re-testing using the PCR method, all 50 cases had negative results.

The leader of the Ministry of Health said that recently, the Central Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has coordinated with a Japanese university to research and successfully develop an antibody test kit with much higher sensitivity and specificity than similar kits currently used by many countries.

A very notable difference is that Vietnam's rapid test kit uses an ELISA testing system that has been equipped from the central level to district health facilities to diagnose people infected with HIV, dengue fever and some other immune diseases.

As the 5th country in the world to successfully produce antibody testing reagents, the Ministry of Health assessed that the rapid testing reagents "made in Vietnam" have many advantages: Easy to use for all levels, district-level medical facilities can test because they use the available testing system; high safety (testing via blood samples); especially the sensitivity and specificity of Vietnamese reagents are about 95%, while foreign products are only about 70-75%. In addition, through initial assessment, the cost of this reagent is much cheaper than imported reagents (only about 5 USD/test kit);... Currently, the Ministry of Health is completing procedures to recognize this reagent for mass production.

Illustration.

Master 2 testing methods

The Ministry of Health affirmed that Vietnam's rapid test reagents can completely replace similar foreign reagents. In particular, when this reagent is recognized and put into mass production, we can proactively use both PCR methods to detect virus genes and rapid antibody testing to proactively screen and early detect people infected with Covid-19.

After listening to the opinions of the Ministry of Health, the members of the Steering Committee highly appreciated the proactive spirit of scientific research facilities, and at the same time agreed and recommended that the Government allow the use of this biological product to conduct rapid testing, serving the work of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic in the new situation.

Also at the meeting, the Steering Committee discussed the following contents: Bringing citizens back to the country, bringing skilled workers to Vietnam, licensing flights, border management, implementing quarantine; ensuring medicine, producing medical equipment and supplies and ventilators; plans for exporting masks; policies for forces participating in epidemic prevention;...

The Steering Committee highly appreciates enterprises participating in the research and production of modern ventilators such as Metran and Vingroup; at the same time, it encourages universities to develop simple non-invasive ventilators, operated entirely by mechanical systems that can be equipped at commune-level health facilities, in remote areas, etc.

Thus, up to now, it can be said that in the work of preventing and fighting the Covid-19 epidemic, we have ensured that drugs can be used for Covid-19 treatment regimens; proactively produced masks, protective equipment, ventilators, etc.; self-produced testing reagents and mastered methods of testing, screening and detecting people infected with Covid-19.

The Steering Committee especially noted that mask manufacturing enterprises must be extremely responsible for the community and the country, commit to prioritizing domestic demand before exporting, and ensure quality. Violations must be strictly handled.

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