'It depends on how much virus the person is shedding, how the test was collected and whether it was done appropriately by someone used to collecting these swabs, and then how long it sat in transport.'
The virus has only been spreading among humans for four months and therefore studies about test reliability are still considered preliminary.
But even if it were possible to increase the sensitivity to 90 per cent, the magnitude of risk remains substantial as the number of people tested grows, Ms Sampathkumar argued in a paper published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. This makes it critical for clinicians to base their diagnosis on more than just the test: they must also examine a patient's symptoms, their potential exposure history, imaging and other lab work.Part of the problem lies in locating the virus as its area of highest concentration shifts within the body.
In these cases, the patient may be asked to try to cough up sputum - mucus from the lower lungs - or doctors may need to take a sample more invasively, when a patient is under sedation. Eventually, the patient's medical team placed a camera down his windpipe to examine the lungs, then sprayed fluid in and sucked out the secretions, which were then tested, resulting in a positive.Uncertainty in clinical diagnoses is not new, and clinicians are well aware that no type of test for any condition can be considered perfect."Most of the time when you have tests, you have test characteristics outlined carefully and warnings about tests interpretation," she said.
But"the real fear of that is people who are given a false negative test and then decide that they're safe to go around their daily life and go out and expose people," said Mr Brenner.
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