How a Decrease in COVID-19 Testing Can Blind California to New Problems | Nation / World

The sharp decline is also reflected in Bay Area data, with a decrease of approximately 40% in Santa Cruz County, 30% in Santa Clara, Contra Costa and Alameda County, and 25% in San Mateo County over the past three months. .. The test is also down nationwide.

Dr. Martifenstershake, Head of COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination in Santa Clara County, said: .. “Tests can also break the chain of infections and reduce their spread, which reduces the chances of the virus replicating and mutating.”

The decrease in tests is understandable. As the number of cases decreases, fewer people are afraid of exposure. Vaccines are more widespread. According to experts, after a year of pandemic, we’re tired of testing.

However, as the test fails, the number and variety of viral variants is increasing.

Last week, the number of cases in California, including the first variant discovered in the United Kingdom, increased from 851 to 980. Cases caused by two homemade versions of California’s virus (B.1.427 and B.1.429) also increased, from about 9,000 to 12,500.

In addition, there was a slight increase in cases involving Brazilian variants that were less responsive to treatment and South African variants that evaded the vaccine. Last week, Stanford University reported a total of six confirmed cases of another new form of virus in the Bay Area. Its appearance in India is consistent with the surge in cases.

But a reduction in testing means that even these amazing numbers can underestimate the true number of infections prevailing throughout the state, experts warn. As reported, are there really about 2,000 new cases a day in California, or are they artificially low?

Dr. Gary Schoolnick, a Stanford Healthcare clinician and professor of medicine and an infectious disease expert, said:

However, even if the vaccine limits its spread and slows its effects, the virus can become endemic and stay in the small pockets of the population, so experts say it monitors the virus. You have to keep going.

Mara G, a professor of biomedical diagnostics at Arizona State University. Despite the fact that so many people are asymptomatic, Aspinall rarely has a disease that infects others. “That’s why we need a systematic approach to testing people on a regular basis.”

Testing remains important, even if more Californians are vaccinated, Aspinall said. This is because it can detect “breakthrough” cases where the vaccine cannot prevent infection. California has not released data on these cases, but this week Oregon and Washington reported 168 and 102 of them, respectively.

“How can vaccine manufacturers specifically design what variants exist, what they look like, how the virus is changing, and how to design around it?” It’s important to be able to understand, “says Aspinall.

According to Dr. Peter Piot, director of the London School of Economics and Tropical Medicine, the test could also reveal whether the vaccine’s protective immunity begins to decline and cases begin to increase. There is.

Indeed, the availability of rapid diagnostic tests used by doctors to detect infections in people who feel sick is increasing.

It also improves access to so-called screening tests, which are used to test people at schools, workplaces, sporting events and other public meetings. Some may not be accurate, but they are inexpensive and provide near-instantaneous results, making them ideal for everyday and frequent use. Other tests, such as the new handheld PCR test created by Visby Medical in San Jose, can give near-perfect results in 30 minutes.

Schoolnik says frequent screening can be a watchdog in certain situations where vulnerable populations exist, such as the elderly and people with weakened immunity due to cancer treatment, dialysis, or organ transplants. Says.

More challenging but very important is another approach. A test and ordering performed by county and state health authorities called “genome surveillance”.

The state strives to sequence 2% to 5% of all positive cases from a representative sample of the community through a network of partner laboratories called COVIDNet. California is doing better than most other states. Nationally, only about 1% of cases are sequenced. More and more laboratories across the state are beginning to sequence at least some of the positive samples, according to the California Public Health Service.

Ideally, according to experts, California would test a much larger and more representative sample of state gender, age, race, ethnicity, socio-economic and geographic diversity. Virus samples can be geotagged and time stamped.

The California Public Health Service says the results may not be reported to doctors or patients because this is not a diagnostic test.

However, better surveillance will help health authorities decide where and when to respond to ultimately overcome the pandemic.

“One secret weapon has helped to defeat all the outbreaks of the last century, but not masks, social distances, blockades, or even vaccines,” according to a new report from The Rockefeller Foundation. Provides a blueprint for the dramatic enlargement of the country. Genome monitoring.

“Instead, it’s data.”

© # YR @ MediaNews Group, Inc. mercernews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.