Sep 8, 2021 | Digital Pathology, International Laboratory News, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Resources, Laboratory Testing, Molecular Diagnostics, Genetic Testing, Whole Gene Sequencing, Precision Medicine
Fear that immunity-resistant mutations of SARS-CoV-2 will emerge are real and the scientific community is paying close attention Detection of an increasing number of new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus raises the possibility that a new strain of COVID-19 might emerge that brings new problems to the management of the pandemic. Public health officials and clinical laboratory scientists are on the alert to determine if any new COVID-19 variant is more virulent or more easily transmissible....
Jun 1, 2020 | Laboratory Hiring & Human Resources, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Pathology
Report’s authors claim the US needs to be testing 20-million people per day in order to achieve ‘full pandemic resilience’ by August Medical laboratory scientists and clinical laboratory leaders know that the US’ inability to provide widespread diagnostic testing to detect SARS-CoV-2—the novel coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 illness—in the early stages of the outbreak was a major public health failure. Now a Harvard University report argues the US will need to deliver five million tests...
May 27, 2020 | Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology
Schwan’s concerns about inaccurate or unreliable COVID-19 serology tests were supported when the FDA issued more restrictive rules for these medical laboratory tests on May 4 Last month, Roche Group CEO Severin Schwan characterized some COVID-19 antibody tests as a “disaster” and questioned the ethics of some manufacturers of these tests. During a conference call with investors about the company’s first-quarter results, Schwan said of the recently-launched COVID-19 antibody assays, “These...
Apr 24, 2020 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, International Laboratory News, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations
Privacy concerns have one tech giant suggesting alternatives to sharing potentially identifiable location tracking data Expect an interesting debate on the use of location tracking as a way to manage this and future pandemics. It is a debate that has implications for clinical laboratories. After all, if location tracking identifies individuals who may have been exposed to an infectious disease, will health authorities want those individuals to be immediately tested? Location tracking has been...
Apr 17, 2020 | Laboratory Pathology
Media reports in the United Kingdom cite bad timing and centralization of public health laboratories as reasons the UK is struggling to meet testing goals Clinical pathologists and medical laboratories in UK and the US function within radically different healthcare systems. However, both countries faced similar problems deploying widespread diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. And the differences between America’s private healthcare system and the UK’s...