WEBVTT - Mayo Clinic Develops Test to Detect the Virus That Causes COVID-19

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

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily

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<v Speaker 1>coronavirus update. Testing for coronavirus will soon start to ramp

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<v Speaker 1>up as the government gets up to speed and also

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<v Speaker 1>as private labs develop their own tests, such as the

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<v Speaker 1>Mayo Clinic, who has made their own test that can

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<v Speaker 1>detect the virus that causes COVID nineteen. Experts say that

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<v Speaker 1>once this starts, we will begin to see confirmed cases rise.

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<v Speaker 1>Dr Bill Maurice, president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories, joins us

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<v Speaker 1>for white testing is so important. Thanks for joining us,

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<v Speaker 1>Dr Maurice, that's my pleasure, Oscar. We're gonna be talking

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<v Speaker 1>about coronavirus testing, COVID nineteen and why it's so important.

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<v Speaker 1>First off, I want to start off the Mayo Clinic

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<v Speaker 1>has developed a test that can detect stars cove to

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<v Speaker 1>the virus that causes COVID nineteen. So tell us about

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<v Speaker 1>the test that you guys developed first, and then we'll

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<v Speaker 1>have a broaderct discussion about testing in general. So, Mayo

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<v Speaker 1>Clinic Laboratories we actually form testing, not only for Mayo

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<v Speaker 1>Clinic patients, but for patients across the Unites Eights and

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<v Speaker 1>across the globe. So we're continually looking out for new

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<v Speaker 1>tests that are gonna need to support patient care, and

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<v Speaker 1>particularly we look out for new pathogens that might need

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<v Speaker 1>to be diagnosed. So we're paying very close attention to

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<v Speaker 1>how the COVID nineteen disease was playing out in China,

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<v Speaker 1>and about four weeks ago our own internal Mayo clinic

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<v Speaker 1>doctors started to enquire about the availability of COVID nineteen testing,

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<v Speaker 1>and as we saw the disease really overwhelmed the healthcare

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<v Speaker 1>system in China, we determined that really we would want

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<v Speaker 1>to develop our own diagnostic essay for the disease, even

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<v Speaker 1>though at that time testing was mandated to go through

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<v Speaker 1>the CDC. So we've been working on the test for

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<v Speaker 1>about a month. We do have a partner lab in China,

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<v Speaker 1>Ushi Diagnostics, and so we really got firsthand counting of

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<v Speaker 1>how difficult it was to keep up with the demand

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<v Speaker 1>for testing, so we pretty much put a team on

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<v Speaker 1>this around the clock to develop our own molecular test

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<v Speaker 1>to detect the virus, and so that was something that

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<v Speaker 1>gave us a bit of a head start, so we

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<v Speaker 1>were able to late last week actually introduced a clinical

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<v Speaker 1>test to detect the virus in clinical specimens. And how

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<v Speaker 1>does the testing work and what does the turnaround time

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<v Speaker 1>for results? So the testing works by a method called PCR,

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<v Speaker 1>So basically it's a molecular amplification of the stars copy

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<v Speaker 1>two virus out of the specimen. Once we get the

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<v Speaker 1>specimen in the lab, it takes us anywhere from four

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<v Speaker 1>to five hours to actually generate a result. So if

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<v Speaker 1>we can get the specimen to us quickly, we can

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<v Speaker 1>usually turn around a test within a day or so.

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<v Speaker 1>I've read that the Mayo clinic there works in close

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<v Speaker 1>contact with the Minnesota Department of Health. I guess results

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<v Speaker 1>are sent there to be verified after not verified per se.

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<v Speaker 1>Just the essay that we have is actually approved for

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<v Speaker 1>use by the FDA. So a result as a result,

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<v Speaker 1>a positive, as a positive, negative and negative. The Minnesota

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<v Speaker 1>Department of Health really needs to know about when we

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<v Speaker 1>have a positive case because really they're trying to track

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<v Speaker 1>how the disease is spreading in the state. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>why the CDC and all the departments of health are

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<v Speaker 1>actually working collaborations, so we can't understand how it spreads

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<v Speaker 1>across the country, which is of course really important as

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<v Speaker 1>we try and contain the spread of COVID nineteen. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>that rationale explains why typically when I knew infection or

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<v Speaker 1>pathogen becomes president in the United States, the initial disease

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<v Speaker 1>testing is almost always handled by the CDC, just because

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<v Speaker 1>it gives them a good handle about how the disease

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<v Speaker 1>is spreading and also to make sure that the diagnosis

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<v Speaker 1>is accurate. However, in this case, again, this COVID nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>has really overwhelmed. It's usually a very robust system for

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<v Speaker 1>responding to these things. So we still form our testing

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<v Speaker 1>but reported to the Minnesota Department of Health, and that's

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<v Speaker 1>also important. That's the broader importance of testing and making

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<v Speaker 1>sure we can find who has it and then obviously

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<v Speaker 1>follow it down the pathway who they've been in contact

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<v Speaker 1>with some numbers that we've been seeing. The US has

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<v Speaker 1>completed about twenty coronavirus tests as of last Friday, so

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<v Speaker 1>the testing response has been very slow up until now.

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<v Speaker 1>It'll start ramping up with tests like yours and others

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<v Speaker 1>as well. But they explain to us why this is

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<v Speaker 1>so important, and we're gonna see numbers explode is from

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<v Speaker 1>what everybody's saying. You know, once we start getting true numbers,

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<v Speaker 1>true tests, we're going to see the numbers rise of

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<v Speaker 1>confirmed cases. But help explain to us why this is

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<v Speaker 1>of the utmost importance. There's really two reasons why getting

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<v Speaker 1>the testing done is really important. Number one, it's to

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<v Speaker 1>really understand and protect those who are particular risk for

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<v Speaker 1>this particular COVID nineteen infection. If you look at the

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<v Speaker 1>experience in China and in northern Italy where we're now

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<v Speaker 1>getting results published in the medical literature, it really is

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<v Speaker 1>becoming a parent that for patients that are young and healthy,

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<v Speaker 1>it poses a pretty minimal health risk, similar to influenza

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<v Speaker 1>or other respiratory viruses, but for the elderly or those

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<v Speaker 1>with an underlying medical condition, they can get into really

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<v Speaker 1>serious double requiring intensive hospitalization. And so the first aspect

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<v Speaker 1>of the testing is really to identify who has it

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<v Speaker 1>to make sure that we can try and protect those

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<v Speaker 1>who might be particularly at risk for having a bad

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<v Speaker 1>outcome from COVID nineteen infection. And the other is to

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<v Speaker 1>understand how the disease is spreading across the United States

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<v Speaker 1>so we can really try and institute containment measures which

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<v Speaker 1>are becoming shown to be really important and protecting those

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<v Speaker 1>who are particularly likely to develop a bad disease. So that,

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<v Speaker 1>of course is balanced against the fact that this is

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<v Speaker 1>an extremely unusual situation where you have essentially, on the

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<v Speaker 1>turn of a dime, two million Americans wanting a test

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<v Speaker 1>that didn't exist two to three months ago, and so

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<v Speaker 1>the national supplies are not endless, and we really need

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<v Speaker 1>to be thoughtful about who gets the testing. That's why

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<v Speaker 1>it's really important that people who want the testing first

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<v Speaker 1>get screened by their primary care provider to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>that they actually need the testing before it gets performed,

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<v Speaker 1>and also to make sure they get tested for other

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<v Speaker 1>viral and says it's still most cases of viral respiratory

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<v Speaker 1>tract infection that you'll see in the community will be

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<v Speaker 1>influence A or other more common viruses, right, So that's

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<v Speaker 1>why so that's really important to do the testing in

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<v Speaker 1>the right people to protect them and to protect the public.

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<v Speaker 1>And that's a tough one because as we hear a

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<v Speaker 1>lot about it in the news, more and more people

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<v Speaker 1>are getting it. I think the latest news is the

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<v Speaker 1>actor Idris Elba has it. I've had some friends that

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<v Speaker 1>said I don't feel any symptoms, maybe I'm asymptomatic. I

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<v Speaker 1>want to get tested anyways, So people are colamoring for this,

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<v Speaker 1>but you know, you got to take the advice. Obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>all the people that are experiencing symptoms, all that need

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<v Speaker 1>to go first. That's where the necessity is. Look, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of unknown with this stars Kobe two or

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<v Speaker 1>COVID nineteen affection, which of course engenders a lot of fear.

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<v Speaker 1>I get it completely, and yet we have to be

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<v Speaker 1>thoughtful to make sure that we can have the test available. Say,

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<v Speaker 1>if someone comes to the hospital and we have to

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<v Speaker 1>make a rapid decision as to whether they need isolateation

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<v Speaker 1>or as it turns out, if they do have this

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<v Speaker 1>disease and their shorter breath, they might need to get

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<v Speaker 1>into an intensive care unit early. As much as people

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<v Speaker 1>want to know if they have the infection, which is

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<v Speaker 1>totally understandable, we have to be sure as healthcare providers

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<v Speaker 1>that we have the ability to test the patients where

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to be making really critical decisions that will

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<v Speaker 1>affect people's lives. Dr Bill Maurice, President of Mayo Clinic Laboratories,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you very much for joining us. Oh my pleasure.

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<v Speaker 1>This has been your daily coronavirus update. Don't forget that.

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<v Speaker 1>For today's big news stories, you can check me out

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<v Speaker 1>on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday, so

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<v Speaker 1>follow us on I Heart radio or wherever you get

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