Experts argue that changes in coronavirus testing guidelines could push down testing: Shot

Testing contact with confirmed patients with coronavirus is a common public health practice. Optional due to new CDC guidelines.

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Boston Gloves through David L. Ryan/Getty Images

Testing contact with confirmed patients with coronavirus is a common public health practice. Optional due to new CDC guidelines.

Boston Gloves through David L. Ryan/Getty Images

Updated at 7:30 pm Eastern Time

The Trump administration is fueling confusion and concern by rewriting coronavirus testing guidelines. Public health experts fear that the revised guidelines will reduce testing. What the President has repeatedly demanded, the government has denied.

Part of the concern comes from the way new guidelines are published. There were no press releases or advance announcements, but on Monday the US Centers for Disease Control Quietly updated website Provides guidance on coronavirus testing. Journalists have found a change.

According to old guidelines, people infected with coronavirus should be tested. The new guidelines leave people’s doctors and state and local public health officials a call on whether a test is needed. This has led to widespread speculation that this guidance is aimed at reducing testing.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Dr. Lena Wen tweeted, Former Health Commissioner and former Chief of Planning in Baltimore. “Asymptomatic people make up up to 50% of infections. We need more testing.”

Former CDC Director Tom Frieden said the change was “very problematic” With a tweet.

On Wednesday, Admiral Brett Guiloa, who is head of the Ministry of Health and Human Services coronavirus test and is a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said he did not intend to reduce the test.

“I don’t expect the volume of tests to decrease,” he told reporters, “in fact, we believe that in some upcoming programs, the number of tests will increase significantly in the coming months. “

Guilloire acknowledged that the guidelines have been reviewed and edited by members of the Corona virus headquarters and are not just CDC products. But there was no political interference, he said.

Giroir said the most prominent member of the Task Force, Dr. Anthony Fauci, worked on them.

In a statement to the NPR, Forch said he had reviewed an early version of the new guidelines, but had not attended the Task Force meeting on 20 August and had discussed and finalized them. In fact, he said he was under general anesthesia for minor surgery at the time.

Now that he has reviewed them carefully, he is concerned that “the revised guidelines may be interpreted as an important issue, reducing the importance of the asymptomatic spread of the virus in the community.” “

Since Giroir defends the revised guidelines and intends to shift the test, the test is more promoted by public health authorities across the country and by individuals who want it because it’s not an illness rather than a worry. Said not.

“Indeed, the goal is to make this more strategic and intelligent by putting more power and authority into the hands of public health officials,” said Giroir. “It’s clearly an intention, and I think it’s explicit in the guidance.”

But bringing this change to public health authorities, as it happened here, may be a failed way to achieve it.

“No one knows what they mean,” said Dr. George Benjamin, president of the American Public Health Association. “They didn’t share this with anyone in advance, to the best of my knowledge,” he said Giroir’s explanation was “to spin it a little.”

Frieden said it is true that there aren’t enough tests and that they need to be prioritized. But “[a]n Asymptomatic close contact is a testing priority.” He muttered. “The CDC says it should follow state and local guidance, but they should lead. ”

Benjamin agreed that there is plenty of room for improvement in who is tested in what situations. But he said the new directive was useless.

“In the end, this undermines the credibility of the CDC, because it makes everyone point at each other,” he said.

“The bottom line is that if you want to make sure the right people are tested with the right tests at the right time, you need a very thoughtful, science-based, printed national testing strategy. Understands, and they haven’t done that yet.”

You can contact NPR Science correspondent Richard Harris [email protected]..