As coronavirus continues to spread across the United States, the quest to combat the global pandemic is being hampered by testing kit shortages and a fear that the materials needed to make more may soon run dry.
Officials estimate that only around 8,500 people in the U.S. have thus far been tested for the pathogen, sparking fear that the numbers who have contracted it – and are continuing the spread – may be drastically higher.
Meanwhile, other countries encountering a severe outbreak, such as South Korea, are said to be testing upward of 10,000 people per day.
Yet, as of Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) simply stopped publicly tabulating the number of tests conducted.
“With viral infections, there will be a period when the agent is not yet detectable but may be transmissible. There will also be a period when persons are asymptomatic or not yet severely ill. The initial tests were in short supply, and had sensitivity problems,” Dr. Stanley H. Weiss, a professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, told Fox News. “The initial case definition used for surveillance and testing was strict; perhaps that was necessary due to logistical issues, such as lack of tests. In any case, the number of actual infections was grossly misestimated and the magnitude of spread, and the existence of community spread, was missed.”
Laboratories nationwide have this week lamented the dwindling of supplies necessary to run tests. The American Society for Microbiologists voiced worry this week that increased demand is draining testing supplies. And medical professionals have expressed concerns over the escalating demand and anxieties surrounding the novel condition.
Dr. Damon Raskin, a Los Angeles-based internal medicine specialist, concurred that the chaos surrounding the unfurling crisis is nothing short of “overwhelming.”
“There is a shortage of testing kits because there are limited supplies of the reagents used for the tests,” he underscored. “There are many patients walking around with this virus who do not know it. They may have mild common cold symptoms and just get over it without needing medical attention. But they can spread to others unknowingly.”
Earlier this year, in the initial phase of the virus morphing from its origins in Wuhan, China, diagnostic testing was restricted to just 100 public-health labs, and testing needed to be run through the CDC. The FDA eventually expanded the number of approved labs, but reports of inconclusive results and even testing refusals quickly proliferated, as only those who had traveled from China were given the approval to be examined.
Weiss said it isn’t entirely clear why the CDC chose to develop its own tests, but the reason likely stems from the complex regulatory issues which are not designed for such a crisis. Indeed, much of the delay in rollout has been obstructed by age-old, draconian regulations and red-tape that has long instituted federal and state governments. This includes stringent restrictions on re-purposing existing tests for other uses. The FDA nonetheless has pushed back on accusations of not moving fast enough, stating that its emergency authorization for laboratory testing was immediately brought to bear.
Yet given the distress over possible shortages required for the kits as demand escalates, many medical facilities are still limiting testing to patients considered to be high-risk or with verified close contact with a person known to be infected. Rather, official guidelines are urging those with mild symptoms to self-quarantine or avoid public places until their condition returns to normal. But in some cases, a transmitter will have no notable symptoms at all.
Based on a rough estimate, Eve Walter, an epidemiologist and associate professor at New York’s Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, surmised that for every person who tests positive there is likely 2.5 persons infected by them, and walking around asymptomatic.
Moreover, the issue of testing availability has been further complicated by the insistence from the administration that kits are available for anyone who needs them.
“Anybody that needs a test, gets a test. They’re there. They have the tests,”
President Trump said during a recent visit to the CDC in Atlanta. “They’re there. They have the tests. And they’re beautiful.”
https://www.foxnews.com/health/fears...ting-materials
Good, concise article
We need to have pharmaceutical and vaccine developments, as well as protect what rare minerals when can mine here, in the US. The last pharma vaccine lab in the US closed in 2004?
These world wide viruses and strains will only continue.
CDC should have its own fed funded dept exclusively for this purpose (as well as subsidized private labs). Yes, that would mean "scientists" and "doctors" would be on the payroll for years when there is no pandemic but we cant just bring them back and not expect delays .. like someone in power said a few months ago that "why are we paying doctors for when they are not needed, well just bring them back when needed".
I know we arent supposed to get political ... but the test kits are "beautiful" .. wtf? what does that even mean