Broad testing is urgently needed to flatten the curve in Pike County

Dear residents of Pike County:

The continued rise in the number of cases of Coronavirus COVID-19 cited on the pikepa.org website is a clear indication that we need to practice “social distancing” but, also need to get people in our county tested.

I had stressed to Mayor Strub of the Pike COVID-19 Action Group, about the need for broad testing of Pike County residents, and had also discussed this matter with an Infectious Disease Specialist.

Pike County needs to obtain the new serological testing kits in which “point of care testing” can be achieved by use of a simple blood based assay that uses a simple drop of blood which is added to an inexpensive disposable testing chip, and yields a result in 5 to 15 minutes. This test looks for antibodies to the COVID Virus.

Those individuals who test positive for the presence of these antibodies can the be further tested with the slower COVID virus presence specific genetic based testing system that looks for the actual presence of the Coronavirus COVID-19. The virus presence specific test called RT-PCR takes longer because nasal and throat swab samples must be sent out to an” off site lab” for processing and analysis.

The usefulness of the basic immunological test is that looks for antibodies in the form of Immunglobulin M (IgM), the early indicator that a person has had a recent exposure to this viral pathogen, and Immunoglobulin G (IgG), the mature form of antibody that indicates the person has had a longer exposure to the viral pathogen.

Thus, this test can serve as a useful scanning indicator of a person being an asymptomatic carrier of COVID-19. Thus, if an individual displayed the presence of IgM and or IgG antibodies he or she would therefore warrant testing for an actual viral pathogen presence assay by means of the RT-PCR assay which looks for the actual presence of the virus.

What makes this immunological test chip device so very interesting is that it can be performed by a doctor or other healthcare professional in his or her office, and the result is obtained in 5 to 15 minutes using a small blood sample.

Sadly, we also know that the viral presence test which utilizes a gene amplification test known as RT-PCR is short supply, and has presently been reserved for those individuals who are manifesting advanced symptoms of this disease.

We do now know that in the early stages of this viral infection a person is often asymptomatic but, highly infectious!

Thus, if we are to maximize the effectiveness of “ social distancing” we need to identify asymptomatic carriers of this pathogen and have them placed "in house quarantine."

We have been making inquiries about this simple "point of care" test, as relates to its date of availability and cost.

We do know that the Rapid IgM/IgG Immunological Testing Chip Device has been given the approval by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) under the act known Emergency. Utilitization Authorization(EUR) . This is the kit that the president was talking about when he had had his recent "point care" test to determine his exposure to this viral pathogen.

The major hurdle that needs to be addressed in order that we would be able to really perform a broad scale scanning of county residents would involve finding a source of funding to purchase these rapid (igM/IgG) "point of care" testing kits.

I would therefore urge all residents of Pike County to communicate with our county commissioners, state representatives and senators, and U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives, as well as, private groups as to how funding could be obtained to purchase these vital "point of care" Rapid IgM/IgG Serological Testing Kits for COVID-19.

Always keep this in mind we urgently need to test because that is the only way that asymptomatic carriers can be identified, and placed under house quarantine thus, helping decrease the spread of this pathogen and flatten the curve as so often has been discussed by Dr Anthony Fauci, MD, of the National Institutes of Health at presidential press conferences!

Dr. Robert-A. Ollar, Ph.d

Milford

Editor's note: Dr. Ollar is a clinical assistant professor of neurology at New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y. He is a member and consulting microbiologist for the Pike County Tick Borne Diseases Task Force Committee.