-local PAHO/WHO rep says ‘unnecessary’ tests should be avoided

AS local health authorities continue to increase testing for the novel coronavirus, it is guaranteed that the country will not be without test kits for a while, as the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) donated an additional 4,000 test kits to the Ministry of Public Health, on Friday.

To date, PAHO has donated over 10,000 test kits to Guyana, said Resident PAHO/World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr. William Adu-Krow, in response to a question asked by the Guyana Chronicle on Friday.
According to Dr. Adu-Krow, test kits include swabs, a transport medium, a special enzyme, primers and probes.

“We have donated over 10,000 test kits to date; however, some were damaged either during transport to Guyana or in storage,” he said.
This support will be further extended in the coming month, as Guyana is set to receive between 15,000 and 20,000 kits from PAHO.

“We should have enough to test everybody who needs to be tested…in the past few weeks we have seen that testing a whole lot of people keeps failing…we are testing too many people, who do not need to be tested,” said Dr. Adu-Krow.
He urged health authorities to be careful when testing a large number of persons for COVID-19, because they may record fewer positive cases, instead of detecting the actual cases.

In giving an example, the PAHO representative said over 50 persons were tested recently and there were only a few positive cases. This, he said, indicates that many persons who do not need to be tested, are being tested.
Health authorities have so far tested 1,586 persons, and of those, 1,436 have tested negative for COVID-19.

While there is a high number of negative results, some 150 persons have tested positive for the disease. And, of those infected persons, a large number are asymptomatic. Health authorities had used the high number of asymptomatic cases to justify the need for increased testing, but Dr. Adu-Krow believes that it might not have to be so.

“It was said that 37 per cent of the infected population are asymptomatic, but we do not have to test those people (asymptomatic persons) immediately because chances are, if you test them, they may not have converted to positive as yet…so if you test them, it will be negative and you will think they do not have anything, when in fact, they have something,” the PAHO representative advised.

This, he believes, could be avoided if authorities monitor persons who were in contact with infected persons for about five to seven days until they develop symptoms of the disease — if they actually do.

In a past report, Dr. Adu-Krow was asked about the rate of testing, to which he said it would tend to vary from country to country across the Caribbean, because there is are established criteria to determine the persons who are being tested.
And while there is nothing like an optimal testing rate, Dr. Adu-Krow said that Guyana’s is about 20-25 per cent, which is what obtains globally. This means that if 100 persons are tested, 25 per cent would be positive.

“If you open it up too wide, you would be testing a 1,000, and only get 20; so you will be wasting test kits… On the other hand, if you are too rigid, you will be testing 10, and eight are positive. But you will be missing a lot,” Dr. Adu-Krow said.

It was anticipated that there would be a natural widening of the testing range, since private institutions were given the “green light” to test for COVID-19 and to treat infected persons.
Initially, the National Reference Lab was the only institution which was authorised to conduct tests, but it was reported that private institutions are now authorised to test for the virus.

PAHO has since expressed its willingness to assist private institutions in preparing themselves to test for the virus.
The international health organisation had “brought in” an expert to train technicians at the reference lab to conduct the test and is prepared to do the same for private institutions.

He said that PAHO normally supports Guyana by supporting the public health ministry, and they will continue to do so by giving them testing kits and now by supporting private institutions, which will have to follow World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

According to the WHO, COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the newly discovered coronavirus. WHO said most people infected with the coronavirus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.
Older persons and those with underlying medical problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer, are more likely to develop serious illnesses. The WHO believes that the best way to prevent and slow down transmission is to be well informed about the virus, the disease it causes and how it is spread.

“Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol-based rub frequently and not touching your face. The coronavirus is spread primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it is important that you also practise respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow),” the WHO has advised.