False Negatives Raise Doctors’ Doubts About Coronavirus Tests; U.S. to Trial Japanese Anti-Flu Drug
By Bloomberg News. False-negative results from coronavirus tests are becoming an increasing concern, say doctors trying to diagnose patients and get a grip on the outbreak, as a surprising number of people show up with obvious symptoms only to be told by the tests that they don’t have the disease.
While still more research is necessary to determine the true prevalence of such false-negative results, experts agree that the problem is significant. False negatives not only impede the diagnosis of disease in individual patients and an accurate understanding of the extent of its proliferation, but also risk patients who think they aren’t ill further spreading the virus.
Some doctors described situations in which patients show up with clear symptoms such as a cough and fever, test negative, and then test positive later on. It’s a particular issue in New York, where the disease has likely infected far more than the 174,000 people confirmed through limited testing. At Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, doctor Jeremy Sperling says so-called false-negative tests are now a frequent occurrence in the emergency room. . .
Concerns about false negatives arise from a mix of factors: quickly created tests from dozens of labs and manufacturers that haven’t been extensively vetted by federal health regulators; a shortage of supplies and material for the tests that may impact results, long incubation times for the infection, and the challenge of getting an adequate sample from a patient. (Read more from “False Negatives Raise Doctors’ Doubts About Coronavirus Tests” HERE)
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U.S. to Trial Japanese Anti-Flu Drug Avigan for Potential Coronavirus Treatment
By Newsweek. Avigan, the Japanese anti-viral drug being tested in Japan and China for its potential use as a treatment for the novel coronavirus, will also begin its first U.S. clinical trials in Massachusetts, the drug’s manufacturer, Fujifilm Corporation, announced.
Avigan (also known as favipiravir), approved for manufacture and sale in Japan back in 2014, is said to fight influenza by interfering with the virus replication process. Avigan “selectively inhibits RNA (ribonucleic acid) polymerase necessary for influenza virus replication,” Fujifilm noted in a statement. . .
The drug will be tested on nearly 50 COVID-19 patients at three hospitals in Massachusetts, including Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. (Read more from “U.S. to Trial Japanese Anti-Flu Drug Avigan for Potential Coronavirus Treatment” HERE)
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