PAHO together with the US CDC work on a PCR test for detection of COVID-19 and influenza

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported on Wednesday that it is working with the main public health agency in the United States to develop a diagnostic test that detects covid-19 and influenza at the same time, which would optimize the surveillance of these diseases.

“Together with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States in Atlanta, PAHO is working to implement a new PCR test protocol to simultaneously detect covid-19 and influenza from the same sample”, PAHO Director Carissa Etienne announced to journalists.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a laboratory technique that detects genetic material of pathogens, including viruses, from a small sample of nasal or oral fluid.

Etienne said that by integrating covid-19 detection with surveillance for other respiratory viruses, such as influenza that causes the flu, countries can monitor diseases “more efficiently and sustainably.”

“As countries seek to become more self-sufficient in their response to a pandemic, this new integrated testing strategy will help them maintain their surveillance efforts,” he said.

Etienne urged people to get vaccinated against the flu at the same time as against Covid-19, recalling that the influenza virus spreads easily and can cause death in vulnerable people, such as the elderly and people with chronic conditions.

Worldwide, annual flu epidemics are estimated to cause between three and five million serious cases and between 290,000 and 650,000 deaths, according to PAHO.

“The fact that people have not been exposed to the influenza virus, because they stay at home or practice physical distancing and other public health measures (against covid-19), could mean that they have lower defenses and this it could make them more susceptible to the influenza virus this year, ”Etienne warned.

PAHO also called on Wednesday to attend to the local covid-19 outbreaks, which increasingly mark the trend of the epidemic in the countries.

Etienne said that in the Americas, coronavirus cases and deaths have decreased in all regions except the Caribbean, although he noted increases in new infections in Bolivia and Venezuela, more hospitalizations in eastern Canada and an increase in deaths in Mexico.

The most serious situation in the region is in Caribbean countries such as the Dominican Republic and Barbados, which reported jumps of more than 40% in new cases in the last week. A higher number of infections were also reported by Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and Martinique. (I)