WEBVTT - Some COVID Tests Being Used to Flag U.K. Variant

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<v Speaker 1>It's Tuesday, February. I'm Oscar Emiras from the Daily Dive

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<v Speaker 1>podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America. It

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<v Speaker 1>seems counterintuitive, but some COVID tests can't pick up on

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<v Speaker 1>certain variants in their results, and labs are using those

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<v Speaker 1>very same tests to flag if you might have the

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<v Speaker 1>UK variant. If tests come back positive for COVID nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>but fail a specific section of the test, that could

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<v Speaker 1>be an indicator that someone is infected with the UK strain.

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<v Speaker 1>Brianna Abbott, health reporter at the Wall Street Journal, joins

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<v Speaker 1>us for how some tests are being used to flag

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<v Speaker 1>different COVID variants. Thanks for joining us, Branna, thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>having me. We're seeing that there's a handful of COVID

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<v Speaker 1>tests that, in one way can help flag these new

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<v Speaker 1>variants that we're seeing out there. In another way they can't.

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<v Speaker 1>So there's this handful of tests that can't really detect

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<v Speaker 1>a certain part of the UK variant. But in these

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<v Speaker 1>tests where we see that this one little component might

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<v Speaker 1>be missing, they're actually able to tell that it is

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<v Speaker 1>this variant that is in the one that has infected

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<v Speaker 1>the person. So Branna tell us a little bit about

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<v Speaker 1>what we're seeing with these tests and how some of

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<v Speaker 1>them are able to flag this UK variant. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>a little counterintuitive. Um So, basically the way that work is,

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<v Speaker 1>as far as we know right now, the vast majority

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<v Speaker 1>of COVID tests still work just fine on the variants.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you're infected with the virus that that happens

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<v Speaker 1>to be a variant like, the test will still come

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<v Speaker 1>up as a positive. But um for just a handful

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<v Speaker 1>of the test, one section of the test isn't working

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<v Speaker 1>from the UK variants. So a lot of these tests

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<v Speaker 1>actually have multiple different parts. In one instance, this one

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<v Speaker 1>test that we're talking about from Thermo Fish or Scientific

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<v Speaker 1>actually has three different parts where it searches for three

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<v Speaker 1>different chunks of the virus. Is genetic material. Now in

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<v Speaker 1>the UK variant, there's actually a section of the genetic

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<v Speaker 1>code in the spike protein area, which is something that

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<v Speaker 1>folks may have heard of. It's one of the proteins

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<v Speaker 1>that hangs on the surface of the virus that part

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<v Speaker 1>of the genetic code. Some of the tests can no

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<v Speaker 1>longer pick that up. But the thing about that is

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<v Speaker 1>it's actually more of a benefit than a detriment In

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<v Speaker 1>some situations, because if you're looking at these test results

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<v Speaker 1>and you see that one section of the test isn't working,

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<v Speaker 1>but the two other sections still work, you can say

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<v Speaker 1>that looks funny and that might actually be one of

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<v Speaker 1>the variants that we're looking for. This is really important.

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<v Speaker 1>There's been a ton of calls for more genetic sequencing,

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<v Speaker 1>more surveillance of these variants because we need to know

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<v Speaker 1>what's circulating. This has to do with all sorts of

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<v Speaker 1>things vaccines, tweaks to those things as well, So it's

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<v Speaker 1>important to know what's going on here, and one failure

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<v Speaker 1>in these tests is important if they're all clues to

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<v Speaker 1>what's moving around. Now these testing questions, these are the

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<v Speaker 1>PCR tests. They're not like the rapid response tests or

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<v Speaker 1>anything like that. Right, yes, let's correct these tests and

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<v Speaker 1>question from this specific lab right now, what are they

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<v Speaker 1>doing to either change the test or they just kind

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<v Speaker 1>of going through with the ones that they have and

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<v Speaker 1>just kind of flagging the ones that don't mark all

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<v Speaker 1>three sections. The company UM, which is sort of this

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<v Speaker 1>big diagnostics company, is working on a software update that

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<v Speaker 1>will go along with the tests that will sort of

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<v Speaker 1>more easily flag when something like this occurs, so laboratories

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<v Speaker 1>can see it and then send it off for a sequencing,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're also sort of working on a new test

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<v Speaker 1>that is able to specifically identify some of the key

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<v Speaker 1>variants that we're looking for. And sort of just to

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<v Speaker 1>be clear about sort of what these tests are doing

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<v Speaker 1>is they're slightly separate from the genomic sequencing, which sort

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<v Speaker 1>of analyzes the genome of the virus that can tell

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<v Speaker 1>her of helps figure out the variant that it is Infectually,

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<v Speaker 1>these experts say that we're going to need a lot

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<v Speaker 1>more of surveillance and genomic sequencing in general to keep

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<v Speaker 1>track of these variants and that the flucan sort of

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<v Speaker 1>these tests is helpful to a certain extent, but it

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<v Speaker 1>definitely can't get the job done by itself, and we

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<v Speaker 1>sort of need wider screening as on a whole. And

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<v Speaker 1>there's no cause for concern for many people. As you mentioned,

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<v Speaker 1>if you have coronavirus, the tests are still going to

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<v Speaker 1>pick that up. This has to do with kind of

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<v Speaker 1>the arian and the way the tests work in targeting

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<v Speaker 1>the spike protein. That's the thing in the case right

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<v Speaker 1>with this, So of all the tests that are authorized

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<v Speaker 1>looking at the virus genetic material about those don't target

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<v Speaker 1>the spike proteins. So the majority of tests are are

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<v Speaker 1>going to be good enough to go through and get

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<v Speaker 1>accurate results at least. So a lot of these tests

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<v Speaker 1>that are authorized right now, there is a risk that

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the virus mutate and some of the tests

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<v Speaker 1>become less sensitive, Like just like with vaccines and therapeutics,

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<v Speaker 1>that's something that's on the table, but because up on

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<v Speaker 1>the table, we've known that the entire time, just because

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<v Speaker 1>you know, virus is mutate and spread, and so a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of these tests look for multiple sections of the

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<v Speaker 1>virus sort of as a way to combat the potential

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<v Speaker 1>for mutation. So like a lot of the robustness is

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<v Speaker 1>sort of built right into the way that these tests

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<v Speaker 1>are designed. But you're absolutely correct. A lot of the

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<v Speaker 1>mutations for variants, not just with the UK variant, but

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<v Speaker 1>with the one from South Africa as well. A lot

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<v Speaker 1>of the mutations have happened on the spike protein, and

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of the diagnostic tests, both the molecular ones

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<v Speaker 1>and the rapid antigen ones, don't actually look for the

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<v Speaker 1>spike protein. They look for other sections of the genome

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<v Speaker 1>or a different protein. So a lot of them aren't

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<v Speaker 1>going to be affected by the mutations that we're seeing

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<v Speaker 1>so far. And going back to what you were saying

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<v Speaker 1>about surveillance and sequencing of the of the genomes and all,

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<v Speaker 1>the Biden administration has said that the CDC is going

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<v Speaker 1>to invest about two million dollars to scale up this

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<v Speaker 1>stuff any other things that the administration is looking forward

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<v Speaker 1>to doing on this front. The CDC sort of first

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<v Speaker 1>tried to launch a national surveillance system for this viral

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<v Speaker 1>sequencing sort of back in November when we sort of

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<v Speaker 1>realize that these variants of concerned we're cropping up in

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<v Speaker 1>the US, we're pretty far behind sequencing compared to somewhere

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<v Speaker 1>like the UK, which identified it's variant sort of because

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<v Speaker 1>if it's robust sequence things, we don't actually know sort

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<v Speaker 1>of all of the variants that might be circulating in

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<v Speaker 1>the US right now, just because we really haven't been

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<v Speaker 1>looking for them. So that's something that public health experts

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<v Speaker 1>are really sort of keen to gear up on. The

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<v Speaker 1>Biden administration sort of is on board, like we said,

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<v Speaker 1>with the money from the CDC to do this, So

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<v Speaker 1>it's definitely something that health officials are pushing for as

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<v Speaker 1>we start to continuously see this virus muta and change

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<v Speaker 1>sort of as it continues to spread. Brianna Abbott, health

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<v Speaker 1>reporter at The Wall Street Journal, thank you very much

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<v Speaker 1>for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm Oscar

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<v Speaker 1>Emiras and this has been reopening America. Don't forget difference

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<v Speaker 1>today's big news stories. You can check me out of

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