{"id":4236,"date":"2020-11-11T15:22:11","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T20:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heartandvascularmed.com\/?p=4236"},"modified":"2020-11-11T15:22:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T20:22:11","slug":"rapid-antigen-tests-arriving-in-countries-to-assist-in-covid-19-response-in-the-americas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/?p=4236","title":{"rendered":"Rapid\u00a0antigen tests\u00a0arriving in countries to assist in\u00a0COVID-19 response in the Americas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

With PAHO support, four countries\u00a0advance in\u00a0implementing\u00a0pilot testing of\u00a0new diagnostics\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Washington D.C.,\u00a0November\u00a010, 2020\u00a0(PAHO)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Pan American Health Organization has\u00a0deployed\u00a0190,000\u00a0new\u00a0COVID-19\u00a0antigen\u00a0diagnostic tests\u00a0donated\u00a0to four countries\u00a0in Latin America and the\u00a0Caribbean,\u00a0and\u00a0is conducting\u00a0training\u00a0to implement pilot testing of their\u00a0operation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From its logistics stock in Panama,\u00a0PAHO shipped\u00a080,000 tests to Ecuador, 40,000 to El Salvador, 40,000 to Honduras\u2014to facilitate diagnostics after the passage of tropical Storm Eta- and\u00a030,000 tests to Suriname.\u00a0 In addition, PAHO is training staff to carry out pilot testing for implementation in\u00a0Ecuador, El Salvador, Suriname, and in Mexico, which is receiving tests through WHO.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These\u00a0new tests, recently approved by WHO, could\u00a0transform the region\u2019s\u00a0COVID-19\u00a0response by allowing health workers to\u00a0undertake\u00a0accurate, rapid testing\u00a0for symptomatic patients, even in\u00a0remote communities.\u00a0Rapid\u00a0antigen\u00a0tests are more accurate in determining if someone is currently infected, unlike\u202f previous rapid,\u00a0antibody\u00a0tests, which can show when someone has had COVID-19 but often give a negative result during the early stages of infection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PAHO is assisting countries to implement new testing protocols to ensure that health workers know how to use the new diagnostics and report their results.\u00a0Consultations\u00a0and training\u00a0on\u00a0implementation of the\u00a0COVID-19 antigen-based rapid diagnostic test\u00a0are being\u00a0undertaken in\u00a0Jamaica\u00a0and Venezuela,\u00a0as well as\u00a0in\u00a0Honduras, Costa Rica, and Trinidad and Tobago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBy providing results quickly, the new test\u00a0will\u00a0empower frontline health workers to better manage cases\u00a0by isolating\u00a0patients to prevent further spread and to begin treatment immediately,\u201d\u00a0PAHO Director Carissa F.\u00a0Etienne said\u00a0recently. \u201cIf distributed widely, this new test will transform our COVID response.\u201d\u00a0She added that\u00a0these\u00a0diagnostic\u00a0tests\u00a0will\u00a0be particularly useful\u00a0in\u00a0hard to reach\u00a0areas, which have been disproportionally impacted by the pandemic\u00a0and\u00a0which are\u00a0without easy access to a laboratory.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PAHO\u2019s Strategic Fund,\u00a0a regional technical cooperation mechanism for pooled procurement of essential medicines and\u00a0health\u00a0supplies, is working with the countries to\u00a0facilitate access to\u00a0these diagnostic tests.\u00a0<\/p>\n

PCR diagnostic tests, which are highly accurate and must be conducted in\u00a0laboratory settings\u00a0remain the gold standard for testing,\u00a0even though\u00a0the time for receipt of their\u00a0results\u00a0are more\u00a0delayed as\u00a0compared with the rapid tests.\u00a0 Antigen detection tests do not replace PCR but complement the molecular detection, according to PAHO. Antigen based detection should be prioritized for mild or ambulatory suspected cases, and eventually\u00a0for\u00a0contacts of confirmed patients\u00a0in\u00a0close\u00a0settings.\u00a0Their use in other types of processes such as\u00a0at\u00a0ports of entry or in searching for asymptomatic cases is not currently recommended\u00a0by PAHO.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These\u00a0tests form part of the WHO Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator to\u00a0develop, procure and distribute critical new tools to fight the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/hr>\n

Contacts<\/h3>\n

Sebastian Oliel
<\/br>
\nAshley Baldwin
<\/br>
\nDaniel Epstein
<\/br>mediateam@paho.org<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With PAHO support, four countries\u00a0advance in\u00a0implementing\u00a0pilot testing of\u00a0new diagnostics\u00a0 Washington D.C.,\u00a0November\u00a010, 2020\u00a0(PAHO)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0The Pan American Health Organization has\u00a0deployed\u00a0190,000\u00a0new\u00a0COVID-19\u00a0antigen\u00a0diagnostic tests\u00a0donated\u00a0to four countries\u00a0in Latin America and the\u00a0Caribbean,\u00a0and\u00a0is conducting\u00a0training\u00a0to implement pilot testing of their\u00a0operation.\u00a0 From its logistics stock in Panama,\u00a0PAHO shipped\u00a080,000 tests to Ecuador, 40,000 to El Salvador, 40,000 to Honduras\u2014to facilitate diagnostics after the passage of tropical Storm…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medicalnewstoday_com"},"menu_order":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahvmed.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}