Bellmore Teen Awarded Scholarship For COVID-19 Saliva Test

BELLMORE, NY — A Bellmore teen is giving back to others while helping his career grow.

Christopher Prainito is a $25,000 winner of the Davidson Institute Fellows Scholarship. He developed a paper test that can detect COVID-19 in saliva.

"It was about early last summer and I was realizing that COVID-19 is still a rampant pandemic throughout the country, as well as throughout the world as a whole, especially to regions of the world where that don't necessarily have access to the same medical infrastructure that we have here," Prainito, a guest on Wednesday's "Patch AM" here.

His idea was to create a low-cost sensor for those locations and for homes.

Prainito's design has a polymer that changes colors when it detects COVID-19. With the paper the size of a pinky nail, the person places saliva on it. If it doesn't change color after four hours isolated from light, then it's a negative result.

But, Prainito says, when his saliva test hasn't gotten to market yet, "it is in no way meant to replace the PCR test. That test will stay as the 'gold standard.'"

Prainito, who will attend Harvard College, plans to use his scholarship toward tuition. With a study focus on mechanical engineering and astrophysics.

Watch the full "Patch AM" interview with Prainito below.