Scary virus outbreak in China

tonyb · March 2020

Someone straighten me out on these test kits. What exactly are they ? As far as I can tell, the test is similar to the flu.....you take a swab of the throat or mucus and send it to a lab. What "kit" is needed for that ?

I don't think they have the lab personnel to do all these tests to be honest, along with all the other tests labs have to perform.

Gardenstater · March 2020

It's a PCR test. Polymerase Chain Reaction. It identifies strands of DNA unique to the particular virus.

erniejade · March 2020

Woooo. Feds are having a Corona virus sale and dropped rates. Goong to re-fi my 2n home. Auto loan rates also dropped.

CoolJazz · March 2020

I got a really bad check cold and cough last week and the week before. Couldn't hardly sleep at night for all the coughing. Bad. Went on for a lot of days and just now mostly over it. Still a little bit in my lungs that works me over a bit in the mornings.

I was nervous about it due to the timing and afraid even though I hadn't been anywhere but work that it might somehow be Corona 19. Turned out to just be Bud Light 12. So I think I'm going to be ok...

CJ

Jaybeez · March 2020

And in my town ....
https://ktla.com/news/deputies-respond-to-chino-hills-costco-after-shoppers-become-upset-over-bottled-water-shortage-sbsd/

audioluvr · March 2020

What's wrong with drinking water from the tap? It didn't come from China. If it tastes funny, get a Brita water filter or something. Bottled water is a terrible idea. For all we know the Corona virus was created by the bottled water industry...

audioluvr · March 2020

You guys need to invest in something like this:

https://www.berkeyfilters.com/products/big-berkey

Clipdat · March 2020

la2vegas wrote: »

In California NOBODY drinks water from the tap. Period.

I have been drinking California tap water for the past 15 years, I just use a simple PUR brand charcoal filter.

tonyb · March 2020

Gardenstater wrote: »

It's a PCR test. Polymerase Chain Reaction. It identifies strands of DNA unique to the particular virus.

This is done in a lab, not the screening process. I still don't see what special test kit is needed because the lab has the equipment to go through the process described. So you can screen , take samples from 10k people, send it to the lab. Who's running all these tests, which takes some time ? I think that is where the bottleneck is. I'm not seeing any special piece of equipment needed or special kit because a lab has all this stuff to begin with. Plus, I'm not so sure other countries are identifying it correctly if they can cruise through thousands in a more timely fashion than we can.

https://www.medicinenet.com/pcr_polymerase_chain_reaction/article.htm#what_is_pcr_polymerase_chain_reaction

BlueFox · March 2020

In California NOBODY drinks water from the tap. Period.

I do. All day, every day.

mrbigbluelight · March 2020

Out of a bowl ?

pitdogg2 · March 2020

Single serving bottled water containers should be illegal

The funny thing is most all bottled water is nothing more than municipal water ran through a post treatment carbon filter IF that.

The amount of throw away plastics unnecessarily used in the last 30 yrs is astounding. Between just the water bottles and those K-cup or whatever they are called is ridiculous.

my .02

Gardenstater · March 2020

tonyb wrote: »

Gardenstater wrote: »

It's a PCR test. Polymerase Chain Reaction. It identifies strands of DNA unique to the particular virus.

This is done in a lab, not the screening process. I still don't see what special test kit is needed because the lab has the equipment to go through the process described. So you can screen , take samples from 10k people, send it to the lab. Who's running all these tests, which takes some time ? I think that is where the bottleneck is. I'm not seeing any special piece of equipment needed or special kit because a lab has all this stuff to begin with. Plus, I'm not so sure other countries are identifying it correctly if they can cruise through thousands in a more timely fashion than we can.

https://www.medicinenet.com/pcr_polymerase_chain_reaction/article.htm#what_is_pcr_polymerase_chain_reaction

If you zoom in on the image below you can see that it says RT-PCR Panel (RUO). Labs may be able to do it, but until recently they did not have the legal authorization from the FDA to do so. That was just fast tracked through to cut through that red tape. As of today, Quest Diagnostics is allowed to do the testing, and probably others as well. I don't know what is this screening process you are referring to. This is the only way to test for coronavirus.

Gardenstater · March 2020

The CDC bungled the distribution of the tests for a month and many of the kits they sent out had one of the reagents that was faulty. They didn't allow commercial labs to develop their own tests and made everyone wait for limited distribution of ones that turned out to be faulty. They didn't accept any tests from WHO also.

BlueFox · March 2020

Do the tests require blood to be drawn?

Gardenstater · March 2020

No I don't think so. I think it's a mouth swab that is done, but then it requires a special instrument (Applied Biosystems 7500 Fast DX Real-Time PCR Instrument with SDS 1.4 software) to run the test. I should've said that they are working on a serology (blood) test but that will only show the antibodies, not the actual virus like a PCR test does.

Willow · March 2020

BlueFox wrote: »

In California NOBODY drinks water from the tap. Period.

I do. All day, every day.

and you are worried about this virus?

tonyb · March 2020

I saw the pic of that test kit, what does it look like to you. To me, it looks like 3 well sealed vials to put specimens in. That's a kit ? The process to test happens in the lab, not in these vials.

I do admit though, the CDC screwed up demanding their own test kit instead of accepting the WHO one. Which I don't get if they are just vials like it appears to be.

treitz3 · March 2020

Tom

Gardenstater · March 2020

tonyb wrote: »

I saw the pic of that test kit, what does it look like to you. To me, it looks like 3 well sealed vials to put specimens in. That's a kit ? The process to test happens in the lab, not in these vials.

I do admit though, the CDC screwed up demanding their own test kit instead of accepting the WHO one. Which I don't get if they are just vials like it appears to be.

Well are you knowledgeable about laboratory viral testing? Cause I sure as heck am not. What looks like an empty vial isn't necessarily empty, but I believe the 4 (not 3) vials are assay controls that contain certain reagents necessary to do the test in the way the CDC has approved. You also need the special equipment and software to do the test. Here's the instructions if you want to wade through it:

https://www.fda.gov/media/134922/download

BlueFox · March 2020

Thanks. Interesting document.

motorhead43026 · March 2020

DOW made a comeback end of day, 600M shares traded with a lot of buying late in the session. I suppose we can count on an up day Monday. The entities that are holding over the weekend will want to be rewarded.

Seems like manipulation that they don't even try to hide anymore.

All JMHO.

tonyb · March 2020

That's why I'm asking, I don't know and googling the test kits is vague.

I'm going by the explanation of the process in the link I posted earlier. Call me crazy, but the way they explained it, you'd think every lab had those tools at hand already.

.....and if they don't, we should be asking why not, and if the almost 9 billion we just gave them might cover some of that.

Gardenstater · March 2020

tonyb wrote: »

That's why I'm asking, I don't know and googling the test kits is vague.

I'm going by the explanation of the process in the link I posted earlier. Call me crazy, but the way they explained it, you'd think every lab had those tools at hand already.

.....and if they don't, we should be asking why not, and if the almost 9 billion we just gave them might cover some of that.

Well ok. I did read the instructions and I think I understand more or less. There are actually 2 boxes in the kit. That box contains the "primer and probe" reagents, which are enough for 1000 test reactions. Don't ask me what that means. The 2nd box has 4 tubes with the Positive Control in them, which provides enough for 800 5uL test reactions. These pics may explain it enough, but clearly the contents of the vials are crucial for testing the patient sample AND verifying that the test equipment and procedures were done properly so that a fair amount of confidence can be had that the result is a valid one.
The Negative (NTC) control and the Extraction (HSC) control are provided by the lab, not the CDC:

Joey_V · March 2020

Give me a few and I'll explain the tests in detail.

Gardenstater · March 2020

I really think the media is fear mongering. Take a look at this data from link below and note how the deathrate for confirmed cases in people under 80 and people with no pre-existing conditions is 0%:

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/coronavirus-age-sex-demographics/

treitz3 · March 2020

I sneezed today. Should I quarantine myself?

Tom

F1nut · March 2020

You should on general principle alone

Gardenstater · March 2020

Another thing. In mainland China you have 54,158 people recovered of the 80,573 cases up to this point. Since this is the origination point it is the best data (assuming it is accurate) to assess the recovery rate and mortality as this progresses.

Gardenstater · March 2020

Deathrate is probably MUCH less than the 2.3% (or whatever) that was initially reported:

Why the Death Rate From Coronavirus is Plunging in China:

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/03/809904660/why-the-death-rate-from-coronavirus-is-plunging-in-china

Scary virus outbreak in China

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