Shield T3, a spinout of the University of Illinois System’s Discovery Partners Institute, has expanded beyond testing for Covid-19. The company that grew out of an easy-to-administer PCR saliva test wants to help prevent a "tripledemic" by screening for three illness that are expected to give doctors the most trouble this winter: Covid-19, influenza A/B and respiratory syncytial virus.
After putting vending machines for Covid-19 tests at college campuses across the U.S. — selling nearly 40 machines, each stocked with about 300 saliva-based PCR tests for Covid — the Chicago company is now offering a saliva-based PCR test kit that will screen for all three illnesses in response to a potential “tripledemic” that some fear this winter.
With cases of flu ticking up earlier than usual and expected to pick up even more in the coming weeks, Shield T3 wants to give its customers an easier and less expensive option than going to a campus clinic or a doctor.
The test will help customers know if they have one of these three viruses, all of which have similar symptoms — fever, cough and congestion — yet very different treatment methods.
"Given the current state of the pandemic, when you’re sick these days, you have no idea what you have; it could just be a cold, but it could be something, like Covid, that requires you to isolate,” said Bill Jackson, principal officer of Shield T3, in a news release. “This test gives our customers a quicker answer."
The Shield T3 kit requires a small sample of drool that is then mailed back to one of the company’s certified labs. The test kits are currently available to Shield T3 partners, including schools and companies, and also can be carried in the company’s new Covid-19 vending machines that are stocked with tests. The cost of the test is $70 or less.
The company ran more than 4.8 million saliva tests nationwide, partnering with DePaul University, some Washington, D.C.-area schools, and more than 250 other schools, businesses and organizations over the course of the pandemic.
