New York, Jan. 4 -- : As the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated, potentially harmful novel viruses can spread across the population long before the system for monitoring global public health is able to catch them.
However, Yale researchers have discovered that examining nasal swabs for the presence of a particular immune system component can help identify stealthy viruses that are missed by conventional tests, they write in the journal Lancet Microbe on January 3.
"Finding a dangerous new virus is like searching for a needle in a haystack," said Ellen Foxman, associate professor of laboratory medicine and immunobiology and senior author of the study, adding, "We found a way to significantly reduce the size of the haystack."
Public health off...