With the help of technology, people are now able to access information faster and more conveniently. This has made communication with others easier, as well as increased knowledge about the world around us. Air travel has also become faster and more reliable, allowing us to explore places we may have never otherwise been able to visit in person. We are now even able to work online from anywhere in the world. Technology has had a far-reaching impact on almost every aspect of our lives, enabling us to live fuller, richer lives than ever before.
John Alderete, a researcher from Washington State University, just developed a new and inexpensive finger-prick test. It’s super fast and only takes five minutes to get results on whether you have the sexually transmitted infection Trichomonas vaginalis (Trich for short). Thanks to this new test it will be much easier for people to check if they have Trich than before. The best part is that it costs only $20! Right now, detecting Trich has limitations because different equipment and professionals are usually needed. With Alderete’s new test, all you need is a tiny drop of your blood to check for the antibody related to Trich. This test also meets the World Health Organizations standards called ASSURED. So, this fantastic invention could help low resource countries decrease the threat of spreading trich infections!
A new test made by a researcher at Washington State University could help stop the spread of one of the most common yet unrecognized Sexually Transmitted Diseases. It’s both fast and affordable!
Trichomonas vaginalis, also known as trich, is actually more common than two other well-known infections: chlamydia and gonorrhea. Even though about 70% of people infected with trich show no symptoms, it can have bad effects on our health such as increasing the risk of getting HIV, prostate cancer in men and infertility/complications during pregnancy for women.
Something called trich can be cured by taking a medicine called metronidazole if it’s spotted early. John Alderete from Washington State University has been looking for ways to make testing for trich easier. He just made a new test that you can do with a finger-prick and only takes five minutes.You can get this test for under $20.
A study’s lead author, Alderete from WSU’s School of Molecular Biosciences said that we have a lot of knowledge about trich infection. However, it is unlikely that a vaccine will be created against it because the organism can avoid our bodies’ defenses. But they do not need to create a vaccine – if someone has trich and gets diagnosed, then there istreatment which can cure them.
Trich, a type of infection, can be diagnosed if you feel itchy or have pain when peeing. To diagnose it right now a swab (like a cotton bud) needs to be taken from your vagina and sent off for testing. This takes time and only certain people with special equipment can do it. Another option approved by the FDA is also limited.
This study explains that only one drop of blood is required to know if someone has trich. A protein called ACT::SOE3, which was found by Alderete, is unique to the trich organism. Both guys and girls make this antibody when they have the infection.
Alderete, together with engineer Hermes Chan from the medical company MedMira, devised a finger-prick test to check for antibodies in a person’s body. It works like a COVID-19 or pregnancy test; if antibodies are present, a dot will appear on a screen window – this confirms infection. The test is designed so that it doesn’t need advanced tools and training to use it, and when positive results are found, immediate treatment can be given for cure.
Scientists wanted to make a test that meets certain rules set by the World Health Organization. These rules are: it has to be cheap, effective, easy-to-use, fast and reliable, needs no special equipment, and should be accessible to people who need it. Trichomoniasis is an infection that is affecting around 156 million people each year, so they hope this test will help stop its transmission in countries like Africa where it’s believed to play a role in HIV spreading.
There are lots of benefits if we test for trichomoniasis in the US. Around 9.2 million people in the US might have this infection, according to some studies. Half of all pregnant women could have it but not even know it, which is a really big problem because having trich can cause preterm birth, low infant birth weight and other issues with pregnancies. To help prevent these problems from happening, we need to make people more aware of trich and its risks.
“Trich is an STI (sexually-transmitted infection) you probably haven’t heard of before,” he said. “It’s very common but sadly it hasn’t been recognized by medicine and people don’t really talk about it. A lot of times, people don’t even know if they have it because there’s no way to detect it unless a serious issue arises. Right now, scientists are working on getting a patent to help protect the new developments about this infection.”
This passage is about a research paper written by John F. Alderete and Hermes Chan on the 3rd of January, 2023 in Pathogens. It talks about how they investigated two different cases: one is the incident and time-varying predictors of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among male sex workers in Mexico City and the other is HIV incidence among men having sex with men through smartphone applications in Beijing, China.
1. Experts agree that there is a special way of diagnosing problems related to Myasthenia Gravis, an autoimmune disease, in 2022.
2. Strongyloidiasis is a neglected tropical disease found in Ethiopia.
3. In China from 2015 to 2019, doctors needed to look for something special when checking for tuberculosis that was resistant to Rifampicin.
4. Researchers compared regular and non-invasive techniques for detecting Plasmodium falciparum infection in southwestern Cameroon using a cross-sectional study.
1.Can scientists use AI (artificial intelligence) and an eye imaging database to work out if something is wrong with our eyes?
2. Do all microorganisms cause harm or can some be helpful too?
3.Is it possible and useful to do eye tests in a health center to check for any diseases?
4. Is it feasible to diagnose fungal infections on the cornea using both a laser scanning microscope and a standard microscope even when no germs were found in culture tests?
