The Ebola virus yields a 90 percent fatality rate. (Photo : Wikipedia)
A new breakthrough invention to fight against the Ebola virus apparently became cheaper and easier, thanks to a 17 year old student, Olivia Hallisey.
Hallisey won the Google 2015 Science Fair just this week along with a US $50,000 education scholarship with her fast and portable Ebola diagnostic test.
The junior student who goes to the Greenwich High School in Connecticut immediately began working on her invention when she discovered about the devastating health disaster that is currently plaguing West Africa especially Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, killing more than 11,000 people. Those who contract the deadly disease has a 90 percent fatality rate however, early detection along with proper treatment can significantly reduce this rate.
The current, traditional detection kits are only operated by highly trained staff under temperature controlled laboratory conditions which are all preventing the fastest way possible to combat the highly infectious virus, the World Health Organization reveals.
With this in mind, Hallisey was geared towards making an easier and a more portable way to help people in nations that has limited health resources. She then utilized an established testing source called the ELISA detection kit to create her own Ebola Assay Card.
The four pronged card works by changing its color to determine a positive result from a blood sample mixed with water. Using a silk card, it stabilized the substances that react to the Ebola antigens called reagents that also skip the step of refrigeration.
Patients can now achieve results in as quick as 30 minutes as the paper based cards can only cost US $25 for every test. Hallisey also predicts that its price will also become more affordable, once it is produced in bulk.
The next step after this Ebola detection kit is for Hallisey to adapt the test with saliva samples and also to include the diagnosis of other illnesses such as HIV, Lyme disease, dengue fever, yellow fever and even certain types of cancer.
