Are saliva COVID-19 tests the future?
By Sidney Madden | @sidney_madden_
🧪 BUSINESS OF COVID-19 TESTS
We know the business of COVID-19 testing has been lucrative, and the University of Illinois System’s saliva-based tests are no exception.
The state’s flagship university pulled in $64 million last year for its Shield tests, according to Chicago magazine.
Lauded for its innovative test-and-trace system, the university developed a nonprofit unit and a for-profit company to distribute its Shield tests.
| Shield Illinois (Nonprofit) | Shield T3 (For profit) |
|---|---|
| Universities, nongovernmental orgs = $25/test | Businesses = $30–35/test |
What’s the test? A PCR test where you spit into a vial. Since it skips traditional RNA extraction, test results can be turned around in less than 24 hours. The average is currently 13 hours, Shield Illinois spokesperson Beth Heller told Scientific American.
How is it different? In addition to producing quicker results and being less invasive, researchers have found saliva-based PCR tests are more sensitive than nasal swab counterparts. (With omicron, this could be given how the variant replicates more in the mouth and throat than past variants.)
Could Shield tests be the future? It seems like it.
- State health officials cited the “extensive number of Shield saliva testing sites” as an option Illinoisans could turn to as 10 testing sites close today.
- Shield’s self-collection kits could soon be distributed via vending machines or at workplaces.
- The U of I scientists are also starting to use the technology to create more sophisticated tests to detect other respiratory problems.
Still, U of I System President Tim Killeen said he isn’t opposed to selling the whole operation to a commercial lab company. Like we said, the COVID-19 testing biz is lucrative.
In other COVID news:
💉 Adults 50+ are eligible for another booster.
📈 The new BA.2 omicron subvariant makes up most COVID-19 cases in the Midwest, the CDC said. Cases in Chicago are up 34% from last week.
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▪️ Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the Columbus statue would return to Grant Park — eventually. This comes almost two years after the city removed the statue following police clashes with protesters demanding its removal. Now, one of the officers could be fired. [City Cast; South Side Weekly, Chicago Reader]
▪️ Deborah Witzburg, former deputy inspector general, has been tapped to lead the city’s top watchdog agency. Inspector General Joe Ferguson retired in the fall. [WTTW]
▪️ Chicago could host the Democratic National Convention in 2024. The city last hosted at the United Center almost 30 years ago when former President Bill Clinton was seeking re-election. [WBEZ]
▪️ Go down the Studs Terkel Radio Archive rabbit hole. The renowned oral historian acquired quite a bit of tape during his 45-year career. [Belt Magazine]
▪️ You could win a $100 gift card if you take this survey! (Just saying.)
▪️ Farmers markets are back! Green City Market in Lincoln Park and Maxwell Street Market on the Near West Side return this weekend 🥳
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Take a stroll to the South Loop to see “On the Wings of Change,” a mural celebrating Chi suffragists.
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Even though a neighboring parking lot owner stopped an accompanying mural of Vice President Kamala Harris and the words “I’m Speaking,” you’ll still be blown away by the size and grandeur of this 86-foot-tall mural in the Wabash Arts Corridor.
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