The Kingdom is set to import virus-detecting machines worth SR46 million to distribute among the laboratories that come under the Ministry of Health.

Dr. Mohammed Al-Subaie, chairman of the medical examination committee, said the machines enable a procedure known as the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, which is used to detect antibodies or infectious agents in a blood sample.

“The machines will be distributed among some 300 hospitals and clinics throughout the Kingdom,” he said.

He said the technique is being used in all parts of the Kingdom to identify the virus from the blood samples.

The procedure can be used to diagnose HIV, Lyme disease, pernicious anemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, rotavirus, squamous cell carcinoma syphilis, toxoplasmosis and the varicella zoster virus (which causes chicken pox and shingles).

“These machines are used as a screening tool before other more in-depth tests are ordered. A doctor may prescribe this test if the patient is experiencing signs or symptoms of the conditions above, or if he wants to rule out any of these conditions,” he said.

The blood sample will be sent to laboratory for analysis, where a technician adds the sample to a petri dish containing the specific antigen (foreign substance such as a virus that causes the immune system to respond) related to the condition that is being tested.


If the blood contains antibodies to the antigen, the two will bind together. The technician will check this by adding an enzyme to the petri dish and observing how the blood and the antigen react. If the contents of the dish change color, the patient may have the condition.

The intensity of the change the enzyme causes allows the technician to determine the presence and amount of antibody.