Thai researchers have developed a method to detect the Covid-19 virus in sweat.
This week, they carried out a life-size test in Bangkok, in the aisles of a busy market in the capital of Thailand.
The technique involves placing a swab under the armpit of the person being tested.
Fifteen minutes later, the rod is transferred to a glass vial, sterilized by UV rays.
A sample is taken and analyzed.
30 seconds later, the result falls.
This method is "95% reliable", a result comparable to nasal PCR, according to the first tests carried out on 2,000 people, assures researcher Chadin Kulsing of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, which is developing these mobile detection units.
"Specific odors"
His team has already launched an experiment with sweat-sniffer dogs to detect asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 and this new project is complementary.
"People infected with Covid-19 secrete very distinct chemicals," notes the researcher.
"This discovery allowed us to develop a device to detect the specific odors produced".
Thailand is not the first country to take an interest in sweat to detect Covid-19.
In particular, the United Kingdom and the United States have launched comparable work.
Chadin Kulsing hopes that his detection method, still in the experimental phase, can soon be deployed as an alternative to PCR tests which require laboratory processing and are therefore much more expensive.
In Thailand, nearly 1.5 million cases and nearly 14,000 deaths have been recorded, mostly in recent months.
The vaccination campaign is progressing but started late.
Only 11 of the 70 million people received two doses of the vaccine.
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