Ready for a Coronavirus breath test?

The words ‘Breath test’ immediately bring to mind the image of being pulled over by the police and asked for a driver’s license followed by the breath test, where you have to blow as hard as you can. Well, that association is going to change with the recent emergency approval of ‘InspectIR Covid-19 Breathalyzer’ by the US Food and Drug Administration that is able to spot chemical compounds associated with the Coronavirus in the breath.

This emergency approval on Thursday, April 14, 2022, shall prove to be a turning point in the early diagnosis and management of Covid-19.

The approved breathalyzer should soon be available in doctor’s offices, pharmacies, clinic, hospitals, mobile health clinics, testing sites, and later, even at airports for a quick confirmation of a possible positive case. It is able to separate and identify chemical mixtures to quickly detect 5 compounds related to SARS-COV-2 infection and is able to give results in less than 3 minutes.

It shall prove to be practical as it can be wheeled around like carry-on luggage and can be moved from place to place very easily. So far, the clinical trial carried on with it indicates that it is able to detect 90% of positive cases and 100% of all negative cases. Furthermore the ‘InspectIR Covid 19 was also tried on the Omicron variant and found to be highly effective in detecting positive cases. The Food and Drug Administration still recommends, however, that a positive test should be confirmed with a PCR test too.

The successful operation of the InspectIR in detecting positive cases is another positive innovative step towards a safer tomorrow. This shall equip medical workers with an innovative tool that can help in early diagnosis of all possible positive cases, with immediate management with isolation and quarantine to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus and keep all contacts at the minimum.

Advanced technology with modern effective quick testing tools is making it possible to achieve the target of keeping our communities safe from Covid-19 and all Covid-19-related hospitalization down to  zero in future!