Now, it will be possible to detect every known human virus from a drop of blood. A new test has been developed by researchers, which is able to detect every known human virus that presently or in the past infected a person.

The method is known as VirScan and has been developed by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers. The test is for detecting current and previous infections with any known human virus, together with HIV and hepatitis C.

The method is an efficient substitute to diagnostics available at present. The method tests for particular viruses individually. Scientists can conduct a single test using VirScan, in order to find out which viruses have infected an individual. The complete analysis can be done for approximately USD 25 per blood sample.

Stephen Elledge, an HHMI investigator at Brigham and Women's hospital and his colleagues made use of VirScan in order to screen the blood of 569 people in the US, Thailand, South Africa and Peru. VirScan screens the blood for antibodies against any of the 206 species of viruses that are known to attack humans.

According to Ian Lipkin, a professor of epidemiology and director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University, who was not involved in the creation of VirScan, "The approach is clever and a technological tour de force. It has the potential to reveal viruses people have encountered recently or many years earlier ... Thus, this is a powerful new research tool".