Brazilian diagnostic tests: essential health supplies for COVID-19 syndromic surveillance

Cavalcante, Fabrício Vieira; Oliveira, Aimê; Araujo, Sidclei Queiroga de; Pacheco, Christina; Sacco, Ruth da Conceição Costa e Silva

doi:10.1590/0103-1104202213405I

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE • Saúde debate 46 (134) • Jul-Sep 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-1104202213405I copy

Brazilian diagnostic tests: essential health supplies for COVID-19 syndromic surveillance

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

There is much evidence suggesting that mitigating the COVID-19 pandemic requires syndromic surveillance and isolation of suspected/confirmed cases. The availability of diagnostic tests in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS) is essential, which could be facilitated by national sovereignty in development and production, considering the high demand/lack of supply in the international market. This study identified the stages of translational research into diagnostic tests for COVID-19 in Brazil, verifying their geographic distribution, among other indicators. A cross-sectional, exploratory study based on a public database with 789 Research, Development, and Innovation (RD&I) projects regarding COVID-19, complemented by other searches, including the researchers’ curricula (CVLattes). There were 89 diagnostic test projects in the database. In 45 cases, it was possible to obtain additional information to classify them according to the translational research stages. Fifteen innovations that reached the T3 stage were identified, with their products incorporated into clinical protocols in healthcare, even considering the deep budget restrictions in RD&I. Brazil has the potential to develop and implement technological products in the field of diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2. Public health RD&I policies need to be prioritized to expand national and international cooperation to promote effective national autonomy in syndromic surveillance and population health.

KEYWORDS
Translational medical research; COVID-19 testing; Public health systems research

Classification on the FUR	Number of institutions with research on diagnostic tests for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus	Number of researches for diagnostic tests for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
Classification on the FUR		(n)	(%)
The 10 best institutions	8^a a USP (1st), Unicamp (2nd), UFRJ (3rd), UFMG (4th), UFSC (7th), UFPR (8th), UnB (9th) e UFPE (10th).	57	66.3%
Institutions ranked between 11th and 50th	10^b b UFSCar (12th), UFV (15th), UFF (17º), UFU (25º), UFLA (28º), UFPB (31st), UFPel (32º), UFABC (38th), UFMS (41st) and Ufal (45th).	16	18.6%
Institutions ranked between 51th and 197th	7^c c UFCSPA (61st), Unirio (65th), UPE (71st), Univasf (106th), UFRB (127th), Unila (125th) and Uema (157th).	8	9.3%
Unranked	5^d d Fiocruz/BA, Fiocruz/MG, Fiocruz/PE, Fiocruz/PR and Fiocruz/RJ.	5	5.8%
Grand total	30	86	100%

Translational research stage	Identified projects		Themes of RD&I projects in health, in the area of diagnostic tests for the detection of COVID-19
Translational research stage	(n)	(%)
T0	20	44.5	Data science and development of diagnostic machines; strengthening of laboratory infrastructure; development of diagnostic kits; molecular techniques.
T1	5	11.1	Development of biomarkers for COVID-19; serological tests and construction of a mathematical model to estimate the diagnosis.
T2	5	11.1	Artificial intelligence in diagnostic imaging; evaluation of diagnostic tests and investigation of loss of sense of smell caused by COVID-19.
T3	15	33.3	Development of new tests; diagnostic platform formulation; use of imaging equipment; test validation for detection; artificial intelligence; development of laboratory infrastructure; development of diagnostic methods.
T4	0	0.0	-
Total	45	100	-

	No of researches on diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2	No of institutions with research into diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2	Number of deaths from COVID-19	COVID-19 SMR (per 100 mil inhab.)	No of researchers	No of researchers with a PhD	GDP	GDP per capita	IDH-M
No of researches on diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2	1	.694^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.894^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.126	.843^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.861^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.921^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.316	.434^* * Correlation is significant at the 5% (two-tailed) level.
No of institutions with research into diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2		1	.710^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.094	.798^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.787^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.664^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.288	.424^* * Correlation is significant at the 5% (two-tailed) level.
Number of deaths from COVID-19			1	.283	.968^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.975^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.987^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.362	.529^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;
COVID-19 SMR (per 100 mil inhab.)				1	.275	.290	.276	.658^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.705^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;
No of researchers					1	.998^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.953^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.422^* * Correlation is significant at the 5% (two-tailed) level.	.585^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;
No of researchers with a PhD						1	.964^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;	.427^* * Correlation is significant at the 5% (two-tailed) level.	.589^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;
GDP							1	.421^* * Correlation is significant at the 5% (two-tailed) level.	.559^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;
GDP per capita								1	.891^ Correlation is significant at the 1% (two-tailed) level;
IDH-M									1

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[1] Conflict of interests: non-existent