For several months, the company EasyCov, in conjunction with the Montpellier University Hospital and the CNRS, has been working on the development of a saliva test for the detection of the coronavirus.
A full-scale experiment has even been set up to prove the effectiveness of this method.
They are less invasive and just as reliable, according to doctors from the Montpellier University Hospital.
For several months now, EasyCov has been working here with the CNRS and specialists on site to develop a saliva test to detect the coronavirus.
No swab to stick deep into the nose, like with a PCR test, just a saliva sample from under the tongue using a pipette.
The latter is then heated twice before adding a color developer: yellow is positive, orange is negative.
And, above all, the result falls in less than an hour.
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Tests that "do not need to be done in analytical laboratories"
However, there is no question of making the saliva test the successor to the PCR: they must be complementary, supports the microphone of Europe 1 Franck Molina, who directs research at the CNRS.
"These tests do not need to be done in analysis laboratories. They can be done in the field, at the entrance to nursing homes or within companies."
A major advantage, while the government has been forced to set up a prioritization of PCR tests in the face of the congestion of laboratories in large cities.
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"It is better to multiply the test points"
"We believe that in terms of efficiency, it is better to multiply the test points rather than increase the flow of patients on a very small number of points."
But performing saliva tests in front of company entrances is still far from being a reality, since the High Health Authority has, for the time being, only recommended them for symptomatic patients.
A decision that surprised Jacques Reynes, professor who performs these life-size tests at the drive of the University Hospital of Montpellier.
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"The saliva may be a little less sensitive than the nasopharyngeal location, but the key is to identify people who have a significant amount of the virus [in the saliva], since they are the ones causing it. contaminations, ”he argues.
So to convince both the government and the High Health Authority of the reliability of this process, the preliminary results of these tests will be published by the end of the week.