ABSTRACT
Objective To establish a sample panel for detection of severe acute respiratory symptom coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antigen and apply to the development and quality evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 antigen colloidal gold test cassettes. Methods A sample panel for detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen was established using 12 kinds of bulks of inactivated non-SARS-CoV-2 vaccine as negative controls, while two batches (Bl and B2) of bulks of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine (Bl, B2) and one batch (SI) of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 culture as positive controls. Bl was used as a positive control to evaluate the colloidal gold test cassettes from four manufacturers (A, B, C and D), and to monitor the development process of cassette from manufacturer A to improve its sensitivity. The negative sample panel was used to evaluate the specificity of colloidal gold test cassettes from five manufacturers (A, C, E, F and G), while positive sample panel (B2, SI and recombinant N protein) to evaluate the sensitivity. Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 culture SI was deter-mined with the commercial SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection kit, and the result was compared with that by the colloidal gold test cassette from manufacturer A. Results N protein was determined as the main epitope of SARS-CoV-2 antigen by evaluation with positive control. The colloidal gold test cassettes from manufacturer A showed a sensitivity of 1 : 2 x 103to B1. The colloidal gold test cassettes from five manufacturers showed no cross reactions with inactivated non-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, indicating a high specificity. The sensitivity of colloidal gold test cassette from manufacturer A was 106to B2 and 1 : 2 x 107to S1. However, the sensitivities of colloidal gold test cassettes from manufacturers E, F and were more than 1 : 103to B2 and 1 : 104- 1 : 105to SI, and that from manufacturer C was 1 : 104to B2 and 1 : 106to SI. The sensitivity of colloidal gold test cassette from manufacturer A was 100 pg/mL, while those from the other four manufacturers were 10 pg/mL, to recombinant N protein. The sensitivity of commercial nucleic acid detection kit to SI was 1 : 107, which was equal to that of colloidal gold test cassette from manufacturer A (1 : 2 x 107). Conclusion A sample panel for detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigen was successfully established, which showed high specificity and sensitivity, and might be used for the development and quality evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 antigen colloidal gold test cassettes. Copyright © 2022 Changchun Institute of Biological Products. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE This paper aims to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the mental distress of the Vietnamese students in the USA. We explore different root causes of mental distress among international students who are away from their home country, their loved ones, and being isolated from school and community due to this outbreak. DESIGN In-depth interviews were conducted to probe the reasons for mental stress during the pandemic and the narrative textual analysis was subsequently performed to analyze the results. This research includes the interviews of 20 Vietnamese students in the USA during the COVID-19 era. RESULTS The textual analysis showed that the mental distress of these Vietnamese students were caused by limited access to on-campus facilities and activities, limited access to public services including grocery shopping, transportations, clinics, the possibility of being infected, isolated living condition due to the lockdown order, and inability to go back to the home country when wanted. CONCLUSIONS We found that both physical attributes (e.g., living condition, internet difficulty, overwhelmed healthcare system, restricted traveling, lack of personal interaction, limited access to public services) and psychological factors (e.g., anxiety of unfamiliar teaching modality, fear of viral infection, uncertain career aspects, cultural barrier and prejudice) directly led to the mental distress of these students. Moreover, other factors such as turbulent future job markets and potential racism toward Asians in relation with “Chinese virus” may cause the mental distress of these students. © 2020 Australasian College of Health Service Management. All rights reserved.