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1) Massive PCR testing campaigns are resulting in the quarantine of healthy individuals, temporary business & school closures, mask mandates, & unnecessary panic and fear. Damage is being done to the economy, the mental health of our youth, & the fabric of our humanity.
1) Massive PCR testing campaigns are resulting in the quarantine of healthy individuals, temporary business & school closures, mask mandates, & unnecessary panic and fear. Damage is being done to the economy, the mental health of our youth, & the fabric of our humanity.
2) Why are we allowing the results of this molecular assay to control our lives when we know it is a flawed method of diagnosing infectious disease? Shouldn't we be limiting PCR testing to high-risk individuals such as nursing home employees instead of testing the general public?
3) Here's what we know: PCR tests identify the presence of viral RNA, but are unable to determine infectivity. A positive test doesn't mean you are ill or contagious. You may have been infected months ago and the test is simply picking up "dead" virus fragments.
4) Overreacting to the results of PCR tests has created "fake epidemics" in the past, so why are we letting history repeat itself? https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/22/health/22whoop.html
5) The CDC admits that the test itself can generate false positives due to contamination and other factors, but to my knowledge has not reported the actual specificity of the test. They do, however, acknowledge that false positives can have significant risks to patients.
6) It should also be noted that the test was intended "to be performed only using respiratory specimens collected from individuals who meet COVID-19 clinical and/or
epidemiological criteria for testing." Not as a screening tool for healthy individuals.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/Factsheet-for-Healthcare-Providers-2019-nCoV.pdf
epidemiological criteria for testing." Not as a screening tool for healthy individuals.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/Factsheet-for-Healthcare-Providers-2019-nCoV.pdf
7) Let's take a look at data from the CDC. When the PCR test was first approved for use in February, "presumptive" positives from state labs were sent to the CDC for confirmation. As of February 22, the CDC had tested 2,071 respiratory specimens from persons under investigation.
8) 49 of the 2,071 respiratory specimens tested positive. Now, here's the shocker: of the 49 specimens that tested positive, only 17 were confirmed by genetic sequencing and/or virus culture.
https://www.fda.gov/media/134922/download
https://www.fda.gov/media/134922/download
9) Nonetheless, as of March 15, CDC determined that positive results from state labs no longer needed to be considered "presumptive" and stated that "no confirmation of positive results" was required. Why are we relying on the results of a test with this level of inaccuracy?
10) Given this information, we have to ask, why the massive push for more testing? Who is profiting from this? Why are we making policy decisions on meaningless testing data? Why are we ignoring scientists who have sounded the alarm on flawed testing? https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.26.20080911v3
