A faulty CDC coronavirus test delays monitoring of disease's spread

[FormerOstrich]

Source: Washington Post


.....

While South Korea has run more than 35,000 coronavirus tests, the United States has tested only 426 people, not including people who returned on evacuation flights. Only about a dozen state and local laboratories can now run tests outside of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta because the CDC kits sent out nationwide earlier this month included a faulty component.

U.S. guidelines recommend testing for a very narrow group of people — those who display respiratory symptoms and have recently traveled to China or had close contact with an infected person.

But many public health experts think that in light of evidence that the disease has taken root and spread in Iran, Italy, Singapore and South Korea, it’s time to broaden testing in the United States. Infectious disease experts fear that aside from the 14 cases picked up by public health surveillance, there may be other undetected cases mixed in with those of colds and flu. What scares experts the most is that the virus is beginning to spread in countries outside China, but no one knows whether that’s the case in the United States, because they aren’t checking.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-faulty-cdc-coronavirus-test-delays-monitoring-of-diseases-spread/ar-BB10nglx

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Trump proclaimed national security allowed him the authority to impose tarrifs.
Trump proclaimed a national emergency allowed him to shut-down the goverment.
Trump proclaimed national security allowed him to waive all rules and reallocate mucho $s to build a wall.

Trump says everything is contained....and I'll cheat some more programs to maybe have another 400 people tested.

[matt819]

1. What a shock

We’re woefully unprepared.

[Skittles]

16. we always knew how Trump INC would handle a real crisis

didn't we?

[truthisfreedom]

2. Our tax dollars at work! Go 45!

Show the world how we lead in health care!

[EarthFirst]

3. So many conservative arm chair scientists bemoaning the response in China...

Whereas we haven’t a clue how to deploy action to prevent a massive outbreak right here in the United States.

It’s dangerous that they’re proud of their ignorance...

[Mountain Mule]

4. Meh

The corona virus is a Chinese hoax just like global warming. The stable genius in the White House told me so.

[Leghorn21]

5. Repeat:

FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY SIX MOTHERFUCKING TESTS



ssssssssssssssss the sound my ravaged brain is making ssssssssssssss

[progree]

6. A couple more for your excellent "Trump proclaimed ... blah blah national emergency blah blah" list

1./ Trump proposed that pay raises for civilian federal workers be limited to 1% in 2021 in a bid to "maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course." He described a pay increase above 1% as "inappropriate."

An across-the-board 2.5% increase for federal workers is slated to take effect in January 2021.

In limiting federal pay raises, Trump cited his statutory authority to adjust pay because of "national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare," but the President frequently touts a growing US economy, including a strong growth rate for the gross domestic product and low unemployment.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/10/politics/trump-federal-employee-pay-adjustments/index.html


2./ Denying collective bargaining rights for 750,000 civilian federal workers at the Department of Defense
The memo argues that a unionized Defense Department workforce could pose a threat to "national security" and that, if necessary, collective bargaining rights at the department should be scrapped in the interest of "protecting the American people."
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142436622

[AllyCat]

7. And I criticized China's response at the start of this.

[du_grad]

8. All tests in a clinical laboratory need to be FDA approved

I retired from a clinical microbiology laboratory career in Jan. 2016. Every procedure we performed had to be FDA approved before we could use the kit.

There ARE no commercial kits available to test for Coronavirus in the US. Usually new test kits have to undergo rigorous parallel testing before they are approved for use, and certain laboratories test this stuff out in parallel with an existing kit before it can be marketed. Obviously, there IS no existing kit to test against. It is very complex and I don't know what the requirements are for approving new molecular testing.

Nowadays, viruses are detected in respiratory specimens via DNA amplification testing. The people who run these tests have to be (like I was) a registered MT (Medical Technologist) or CLS (Clinical Laboratory Scientist - this term is newer and has been used to describe our profession since about 2004 I believe). Molecular testing is deemed "high complexity" testing, therefore you have to have certain certifications in order to even perform the testing. You also have to have the right equipment. Many microbiology laboratories have not fully moved into molecular testing yet. I was lucky in that the lab from which I retired saw the future and started moving into these platforms in the early 2000's.

It will be interesting to see how the massive amount of testing that will be needed is going to proceed. Labs like mine are swamped with rapid Flu testing during flu season. Everyone who shows any respiratory symptoms in the ER gets a rapid flu test from a nasal swab. The specimen stream is endless during flu season.

I am glad I am retired.

[FormerOstrich]

9. thank you for

the information. I appreciate the input.

[spinbaby]

10. What could possibly go wrong?

Minimal testing for the virus.
Americans who go to work sick because they don’t have sick leave.
Americans who don’t go to the doctor because they have crap health insurance.
If the virus is loose here, it won’t be noticed until it’s spread far and wide.

[EarthFirst]

13. This is exactly how this plays out...

Terrified of financial ruin when they should be hospitalized; this will be the how this virus takes hold in North America.

[lark]

11. He and repugs cut the whole damn department & defunded it.

He couldn't find a way to personally profit from it so it had to go. Only his funding sources are emergencies,, actual people dying means absolutely nothing to him. He claims everythings' perfect, no risk, but damn wouldn't it be sweet if it hit him and hard! It'd be perfect and instant karma. I pray that many Americans don't die because of this, but we are certainly not protected and very much at risk.

[backtoblue]

12. People here are being told they have the "fake flu"

Rural area, only viral test readily available is for the flu.

Alot of people have been sick with the real flu. I dont know if the term "fake flu " is a normal description. Never heard it before a few weeks ago...

[du_grad]

15. You can get pretty sick from "fake" flu AND real flu

We are in the midst of the REAL flu season right now. "Fake flu" sounds like some right-wing moniker for coronavirus.

You can get really sick from both of them. People over 65 are at the highest risk for complications from any sort of respiratory infection and must be serious about taking precautions.

I have gotten a flu vaccine every year since the 1970's. That being said, I got Flu A in February, 2018. It held on for a couple of weeks and then I developed encephalopathy from it. My husband was asking me questions and I couldn't respond. He then asked me if I knew what day it was, etc. and I couldn't respond. He took me post-haste to our local medical school ER where they admitted me. I don't remember much of the first 48 hours of my admission. I ended up in MICU for almost six days. I had blood work and spinal taps. The docs were worried I had Herpes encephalitis so I was on IV Acyclovir. Herpes PCR on my spinal fluid was negative, so the docs deduced that it was the influenza virus that was causing my symptoms. I was discharged a week later but my recovery at home took another 2-3 weeks to feel normal again. The whole ordeal lasted from mid-February to the end of April before I felt better.

I have no idea if my illness would have been worse if I had NOT gotten the vaccine. It is not something I want to go through again. The pulmonologist told me that encephalopathy is unusual with adults, and is usually a complication of flu with children. He said there was one other adult in another hospital in town at the time that also had encephalopathy.

Most deaths from the flu occur due to super-infection with bacterial pneumonia. Bacterial pneumonia can be fatal within 12-24 hours. It has a 20% mortality in people over 65 years of age. I saw many cultures with bacterial pneumonia over my 35+ year career in clinical microbiology.

Wash your hands and get a flu shot.

[Bayard]

14. Well, lets just cut CDC's funding further then!

Besides, that money could be used for The Wall, and that will stop the virus at our southern border.