China’s Hubei province, the coronavirus outbreak epicentre, has
started using a faster and more convenient method of testing in order to
isolate patients more quickly, the official People’s Daily reported on
Friday.
Reuters reported last month that a lack of RNA test kits in Hubei
capital Wuhan may have delayed patients from being properly diagnosed
and treated, contributing to the spread of the virus in the early days
of the outbreak.
Hubei will start recognising computerized tomography (CT) scan
results as confirmation of suspected infections of the coronavirus,
which has killed over 600 people in China, the newspaper said on its
official Weibo account, citing a document published by the National
Health Commission on Feb. 5.
The move could significantly shorten testing time and allow more
prompt treatment in the province, doctors and epidemiologists said.
Previously, China’s health authorities had a stricter rule for
identifying such cases, and patients were often denied access to be
treated full-time without RNA tests that could take days to process.
“The biggest advantage of CT scans is ‘fast’ – we can see the results
immediately,” Qi Xiaolong, Professor of Medicine and Assistant Dean at
the First Hospital of Lanzhou University, said in an email to Reuters.
“As we’re facing the shortage of virus test-kits in Wuhan and other
virus-stricken areas near it (or the shortage of professional testing
staff), current case-confirming procedures cannot meet the requirement
of diagnosis and treatment,” he said, adding the quality of reagents and
proficiency in sample retention could also affect the accuracy of the
test results.
In contrast, CT scan results have proven highly reliable and can
yield results in just minutes, Cheng Zhenshun, Director of the
department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at the Zhongnan
Hospital of Wuhan University, said earlier this week.
“We’ve finally seen this change happen,” a Wuhan Weibo user surnamed
Zhang wrote in a post commenting on the news. “This will give patients a
lot more confidence.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-health-testing/chinas-virus-epicentre-hubei-speeds-testing-after-complaints-idUSKBN2011QV
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.