Imagine you are an epidemiologist working on a public health crisis involving a viral pathogen. You are asked to make recommendations regarding testing methods and what laboratories to utilize for diagnosis and research. There are demands for you to select a single, molecular test to identify patients with the disease and determine the course of treatment. How would you respond to this demand? Original Post: Write a unique post that outlines some of the questions and considerations as you explore this situation. Identify how procedures and methods may affect the accuracy and depth of the results obtained. Think about sensitivity, specimen type, key features of the virus that need to be identified, timeline from diagnosis to treatment, cost, availability of testing, trade-offs from one test to another, and testing combinations. Make recommendations and develop a response to the situation above. If it helps, select a specific outbreak/viral pathogen for which you can discuss details. Responses: Review the recommendations made by your classmates and respond to at least two posts. Provide additional support for their position. Identify errors where more information and support may be needed. Ask questions to further the discussion regarding this topic. Responses should stimulate further conversation and produce additional knowledge, not just a simple agreement or support statement. https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/cloning/cloning-learning-center/invitrogen-school-of-molecular-biology/pcr-education/pcr-reagents-enzymes/pcr-basics.html https://medlineplus.gov/lab-tests/pcr-tests/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymerase_chain_reaction
