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Public Health England have announced a new surveillance system for the early detection of COVID-19.
Wednesday 26th Feb
Dr Bharat Pankhania, Senior Clinical Lecturer, University of Exeter Medical School, said:
“Introducing this sentinel surveillance measure is a positive move for the detection of the Covid-19 virus. Random testing in GP practices will provide an early alert system on whether Covid-19 is in circulation unbeknownst to us. It will tell us if people are harbouring the virus without symptoms. There’s no evidence for that, but it’s prudent to monitor, if we are to continue our successful containment of the virus in the UK.”
Tuesday 25th Feb
Prof Jonathan Ball, Professor of Molecular Virology, University of Nottingham, said:
“Increased surveillance and testing for the novel coronavirus is a welcome initiative. Many of us have been worried that the virus might be introduced into the UK under the radar and start to transmit more widely in the community. This concern is borne out by the experiences of other countries such as Italy and Iran that are suffering quite large outbreaks where the source of the virus is unknown.
“It would be impossible to test all cases of respiratory illness for the presence of novel coronavirus but the introduction of testing into so-called sentinel surveillance centres and the ability of physicians to request a test in cases of severe respiratory disease will certainly increase our ability to monitor and track the infection.
“The events of the past few days, particularly introduction of the virus into regions of the world that have limited health infrastructure, and the fact that the virus frequently causes mild symptoms that can be mistaken for a common cold of flu means that there is real chance of this virus turning up on our shores unannounced and unsuspected. We need to be prepared to minimise its effects and better surveillance is key to enable the most appropriate response to dampen down its spread.”
Prof Sheila Bird, Formerly Programme Leader, MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge, said:
“The announcement today of co-ordinated surveillance for undiagnosed COVID-19 in patients with respiratory illness severe enough for them to have been admitted to participating intensive care units, but who did not meet current criteria for COVID-19-testing, is welcome as both precautionary and prudent. The decision is not surprising, nor is it likely to have been a sudden decision as necessary pre-planning of the surveillance will have preceded today’s announcement.
“Planned surveillance for undiagnosed asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 disease – the other end of the COVID-19-disease-spectrum – is clearly also in hand with collaboration from a network of primary care practices. Such practices have played an important role in seasonal influenza, as they have given early warning of increased consultations for influenza-like illnesses. However, COVID-19 surveillance may have different subject-recruitment criteria and is also likely to want to include testing for COVID-19 in a manner that does not risk onward-transmission. How to deliver mild-disease surveillance is tricky so that its planning will be time well-spent. The good news is that thinking caps were donned pre-emptively.”
All our previous output on this subject can be seen at this weblink:
http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/tag/covid-19
The SMC also produced a Factsheet on COVID-19 which is available here:
https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/smc-novel-coronavirus-factsheet/
Declared interests
None received.