Dear loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. I am back from a week of crossing the country for two professional meetings and for better or worse I can assure everyone that wearing masks on airplanes is passe’! I will be writing a post about what we have to be thankful for this week, but in the meanContinue reading “The Thanksgiving triple play: RSV, Flu and COVID discussed on Flashpoint November 20th at 10:00 AM”
Category Archives: Testing
I didn’t believe anything about COVID could upset me anymore until I heard about these folks at Boston University…
The news came out that there was an experiment at Boston University to try to make a potentially more lethal SARS-CoV-2 omicron virus. On face value this seems like an incredibly stupid idea, but with more investigation, it’s actually worse than that! There is a federal biodefense lab at Boston University (National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory)Continue reading “I didn’t believe anything about COVID could upset me anymore until I heard about these folks at Boston University…”
The new booster shots discussed on Flashpoint September 11th at 10:00 AM
Dear loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. I am back from my first international meeting since 2019! During the interim the government has finalized plans for the new COVID-19 boosters. I will be posting on them next week, but will discuss them this Sunday at 10:00AM EDT on Flashpoint with Devin Scillian on WDIV (channel 4) inContinue reading “The new booster shots discussed on Flashpoint September 11th at 10:00 AM”
Discussion on ongoing COVID-19 deaths on Flashpoint tomorrow June 26th at 10:00 AM
To loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. Tomorrow, I discuss the ongoing reports of deaths and COVID-19 infections. The conversation will take place at 10:00AM EDT on Flashpoint with Devin Scillian on WDIV (channel 4) in Detroit. This dialogue is important since interpreting deaths associated with COVID can be confusing. Given the changes in COVID infections andContinue reading “Discussion on ongoing COVID-19 deaths on Flashpoint tomorrow June 26th at 10:00 AM”
Discussion on the new wave of COVID-19 infections on Flashpoint tomorrow May 15th at 10:00 AM
To loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. Tomorrow, I discuss the current increase of COVID-19 infections and how to manage our response to this situation. The conversation will take place at 10:00AM EDT on Flashpoint with Devin Scillian on WDIV (channel 4) in Detroit. This dialogue is particularly important since the immunological landscape has changed and mayContinue reading “Discussion on the new wave of COVID-19 infections on Flashpoint tomorrow May 15th at 10:00 AM”
Discussion on the new wave of COVID-19 infections on Flashpoint tomorrow May 15th at 10:00 AM
To loyal readers of pandemicpondering.com. Tomorrow, I discuss the current increase of COVID-19 infections and how to manage our response to this situation. The conversation will take place at 10:00AM EDT on Flashpoint with Devin Scillian on WDIV (channel 4) in Detroit. This dialogue is particularly important since the immunological landscape has changed and mayContinue reading “Discussion on the new wave of COVID-19 infections on Flashpoint tomorrow May 15th at 10:00 AM”
Antigen Assays: a third type of test for COVID infections.
A third type of coronavirus test has recently been introduced. This test is somewhat like the swab or PCR test, because it directly looks for the presence of COVID-19. Rather than looking for viral RNA like the PCR assay, this test looks for viral proteins (antigens). The antigen test as it is called involves theContinue reading “Antigen Assays: a third type of test for COVID infections.”
An additional problem with the national testing program.
After I published a blog post outlining the problems with the national testing program, another issue surfaced. A paper in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that the window of accuracy for testing people for coronavirus infection is very narrow. Patients tested too early or late after the onset of symptoms showed false negative resultsContinue reading “An additional problem with the national testing program.”
FDA issues an alert about the Abbott ID NOW.
Today the FDA published an alert on the Abbott ID NOW COVID screening test. I refer you to my post on this issue from two days ago.
The proposed US COVID testing program is inherently flawed.
A commonly heard refrain has been the call for COVID testing as a preamble to reducing social distancing. The concept underlying this is that people will be screened to identify infected individuals, and then they and their contacts will be identified and isolated. This will control transmission and reduce the number of infections. While thisContinue reading “The proposed US COVID testing program is inherently flawed.”
Pandemic Pondering 