U.S. health officials say they could dramatically boost screening for the coronavirus by combining test samples in batches instead of running them one by one.
Coronavirus testing is an essential part of slowing the spread. From swab to result, follow along with one very sick patient’s test.
The idea for pooling dates from World War II, when it was considered for quickly screening blood samples from U.S. draftees for syphilis. Since then, it has been adopted to screen blood samples for HIV and hepatitis. And developing countries have used pooled samples to stretch testing supplies.China reported using the approach as part of a recent campaign to test all 11 million residents of Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged late last year.
“Americans think this is some new concept because ordinarily we don’t have this challenge of having to stretch testing capacity,” saidLakdawalla and colleagues estimate that pooled testing could save schools and businesses from 50% to 70% on costs. Under, a group of 100 employees could be divided into 20 batches of five people. Assuming 5% of people carry the virus, only five pools would test positive, requiring individual testing.
But pooling won’t always be the best option. Importantly, it won’t save time or resources when used in COVID-19 hot spots, such as an outbreak at a nursing home. That’s because the logistical and financial benefits of pooling only add up when a small number of pools test positive.Experts recommend the technique when fewer than 10% of people are expected to test positive. About 7% of U.S.
Nebraska’s state health laboratory used batch testing with special permission from the governor and the FDA in March. The lab’s director said they had to stop several weeks ago when their positive rate jumped to 17% with outbreaks at meat packing plants.
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