The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned experts not to rely solely on the results of a PCR test to detect the CCP virus.
In the updated guide published on January 20, the WHO said that laboratory experts and health practitioners should also consider the patient’s history and epidemiological risk factors along with the PCR test in diagnosing the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
The new guidance could lead to a decrease in the number of daily cases.
“Most PCR tests are indicated as a diagnostic aid, therefore healthcare providers should consider any results in combination with the time of sampling, sample type, test specificity, clinical observations, patient history, confirmed condition of any contact and epidemiological information, ”says the guide.
It is not clear why the health agency waited more than a year to launch the new directive. WHO did not respond to an investigation in The Epoch Times.
Scientists and doctors have expressed concern for several months about over-dependence and misuse of the PCR test as a diagnostic tool because it cannot tell the difference between a live infectious virus and an inactivated virus fragment that does not it is infectious.
In addition, high cycle threshold values in most PCR tests – at 40 cycles or more – increase the risk of false positives. A higher threshold value indicates a lower viral load and that the person is less likely to be infectious, while a person with a lower cycle threshold value has a higher viral load or is more infectious.
WHO did not specify what the threshold value should be for a positive diagnosis, but said that “only to determine whether [a] manual adjustment of the PCR positivity threshold is recommended by the manufacturer. ”
However, he clarified that when the prevalence of the CCP virus is low, the “risk of a false positive increases”, which means that the probability that a person with a positive result (detected SARS-CoV-2) is really infected with SARS-CoV-2 decreases as prevalence decreases, regardless of the specificity claimed [of the PCR test]. ”
SARS-CoV-2 is the scientific name for the CCP virus that causes COVID-19 disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says its PCR tests have a cycle threshold limit of 40 cycles. The federal agency finally included information on the value of the cycle threshold in the Laboratory Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 on 12 November 2020.
But many medical experts believe that the threshold value of 40 cycles returns only false positives, because samples going through many amplification cycles will take up negligible RNA sequences, whether the virus is inactivated or the viral load is extremely low to put any problem.
Before the CCP virus pandemic, for individuals to be considered a case, they must test positive and show clinical signs and symptoms. But to be considered a case of CCP virus, only a positive PCR test is needed. And no matter how many times an individual is tested, each positive test is considered a separate case.
The WHO now recommends that a positive PCR test that does not “match the clinical presentation” be checked by taking “a new specimen” and testing it again.
This advice can also help reduce cases of PCC virus in hospitals, as it more clearly defines who is considered a hospitalized case.
Dr Layla McCay, Director of the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, confirmed this talkRADIO that a percentage of officially hospitalized patients considered to be positive cases were actually treated for various non-COVID-19 related diseases. They only tested positive for the disease at the hospital without showing any symptoms.
Dr Layla McCay, director of the NHS Confederation, confirms to Julia that the hospital figures for “Covid patients” include patients who are not being treated for Covid, but have simply tested positive while being treated for something else.@ JuliaHB1 | @LaylaMcCay pic.twitter.com/xSud6LW13M
– talkRADIO (@talkRADIO) January 5, 2021
“It’s true that in the hospital, people who have tested positive for COVID will have a full range of symptoms,” McCay said. “Some will do it as part of another problem they are in the hospital for.”
The day after the WHO launched its new guidance, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the United States would join the organization.
“As such, I am honored to announce that the United States will remain a member of the World Health Organization,” Fauci said. “Yesterday, President Biden signed letters withdrawing the announcement of the previous administration’s withdrawal from the organization, and those letters were forwarded to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and you to Dr. Tedros, my dear friend.”
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is the Director-General of WHO.
“The United States also intends to meet its financial obligations to organizations,” Fauci added.
In July last year, the Trump administration dropped the WHO for its alleged role in helping the Chinese communist regime cover the severity of the CCP virus.
There have been mixed responses from Congress over Biden’s decision to join WHO.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) Introduced a bill (pdf) on January 21 to “ban the availability of U.S. contributions to the World Health Organization until Congress receives a full report on China and the COVID-19 pandemic and other purposes. . ”
She said in a statement: “WHO is focused on China and is moving towards Beijing at every step. There is no reason why US taxpayers should contribute more than $ 400 million a year to an organization that covers China and failed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. ”
Prior to the withdrawal of former President Donald Trump from the WHO, the United States contributed the most money to the health agency, according to State Department statistics.