Dr. Lucky Tran Jul 18, 2024

With many people getting COVID from the summer surge, a reminder that the CDC's isolation guidelines are inadequate.

CDC shortened their isolation guidelines, not because of a change in the science, but in response to political pressure to keep people working even if they are sick.

Science shows most people are infectious for 10+ days; it's best to isolate until you test negative on multiple tests. If you can't stay home the whole time, wear an N95 mask to stop the virus spreading to others.

Show thread<p>Aspect of Fire</p>

@luckytran
I was told once by a nurse that PCR test could give back positive test for several weeks (more than two) after an infection and that it wasn't a reliable method to know if you could stop strict isolation

Do you know if that claim holds any water per chance?

Jul 18, 2024 at 9:35pmWeb
Show threadJennyJul 19, 2024
@knight @luckytran I am not a doctor, but my understanding is that PCR tests look for DNA remnants of the virus, which can remain even when the virus has been neutralized by meds, the immune system, etc. It can take awhile for those remnants to be completely eliminated from the body, and PCR tests will show positive until that time (in other words, it will be positive due to a previous infection)…
Show threadJennyJul 19, 2024
@knight @luckytran …leading to higher risk of false positives (alerting to an infection that isn’t actually there). Rapid tests, on the other hand, look for active infections (so better for judging when to leave isolation), but aren’t always as sensitive as PCRs. So rapid tests have a higher risk of false negatives (missing an infection that is actually there). If I’m misstating or misunderstanding this, I hope a medical professional will correct me.