COVID-19 Updates

At Northwestern, we have received permission to begin testing all women admitted for delivery, including those that are asymptomatic.  However, we will not be using the Abbott point of care test (Alere platform) with the 15 minute turnaround.  Before being rolled out, it failed validation testing.  Swabs were obtained from know COVID + hospitalized patients for both PCR, Cepheid, and Alere testing.  The Alere test was positive in only 50% of these patients, while the other tests were had much better sensitivity.  We will be using the Cepheid test, which is currently giving turnaround results in 2 hours.  Not ideal, but better than the next day.

We have heard that other systems are having similar sensitivity issues with the Alere test, but this has not been well publicized.

------------------------------
Alan Peaceman
------------------------------

Thank you for the update, critical info.

------------------------------
Phil] [Greig] [MD]
Greenville, SC]
Tenwek Mission Hospital]
Bomet, Kenya]
Phillip
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2020 22:37
From: Alan Peaceman
Subject: Testing

At Northwestern, we have received permission to begin testing all women admitted for delivery, including those that are asymptomatic.  However, we will not be using the Abbott point of care test (Alere platform) with the 15 minute turnaround.  Before being rolled out, it failed validation testing.  Swabs were obtained from know COVID + hospitalized patients for both PCR, Cepheid, and Alere testing.  The Alere test was positive in only 50% of these patients, while the other tests were had much better sensitivity.  We will be using the Cepheid test, which is currently giving turnaround results in 2 hours.  Not ideal, but better than the next day.

We have heard that other systems are having similar sensitivity issues with the Alere test, but this has not been well publicized.

------------------------------
Alan Peaceman
------------------------------

​Thanks for that helpful info.

------------------------------
Daniel Lasser
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-08-2020 11:13
From: Phillip Greig
Subject: Testing

Thank you for the update, critical info.

------------------------------
Phil] [Greig] [MD]
Greenville, SC]
Tenwek Mission Hospital]
Bomet, Kenya]
Phillip

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2020 22:37
From: Alan Peaceman
Subject: Testing

At Northwestern, we have received permission to begin testing all women admitted for delivery, including those that are asymptomatic.  However, we will not be using the Abbott point of care test (Alere platform) with the 15 minute turnaround.  Before being rolled out, it failed validation testing.  Swabs were obtained from know COVID + hospitalized patients for both PCR, Cepheid, and Alere testing.  The Alere test was positive in only 50% of these patients, while the other tests were had much better sensitivity.  We will be using the Cepheid test, which is currently giving turnaround results in 2 hours.  Not ideal, but better than the next day.

We have heard that other systems are having similar sensitivity issues with the Alere test, but this has not been well publicized.

------------------------------
Alan Peaceman
------------------------------

Curious how you found the validation info for Alere? My system is going to start utilizing this platform and the 50% detection is concerning? Thanks!

------------------------------
Jessica Cantu
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2020 22:37
From: Alan Peaceman
Subject: Testing

At Northwestern, we have received permission to begin testing all women admitted for delivery, including those that are asymptomatic.  However, we will not be using the Abbott point of care test (Alere platform) with the 15 minute turnaround.  Before being rolled out, it failed validation testing.  Swabs were obtained from know COVID + hospitalized patients for both PCR, Cepheid, and Alere testing.  The Alere test was positive in only 50% of these patients, while the other tests were had much better sensitivity.  We will be using the Cepheid test, which is currently giving turnaround results in 2 hours.  Not ideal, but better than the next day.

We have heard that other systems are having similar sensitivity issues with the Alere test, but this has not been well publicized.

------------------------------
Alan Peaceman
------------------------------

this was internal validation performed by our quality team before rolling it out.  Samples were obtained from patients hospitalized in the ICUs.

------------------------------
Alan Peaceman
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-08-2020 16:56
From: Jessica Cantu
Subject: Testing

Curious how you found the validation info for Alere? My system is going to start utilizing this platform and the 50% detection is concerning? Thanks!

------------------------------
Jessica Cantu

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2020 22:37
From: Alan Peaceman
Subject: Testing

At Northwestern, we have received permission to begin testing all women admitted for delivery, including those that are asymptomatic.  However, we will not be using the Abbott point of care test (Alere platform) with the 15 minute turnaround.  Before being rolled out, it failed validation testing.  Swabs were obtained from know COVID + hospitalized patients for both PCR, Cepheid, and Alere testing.  The Alere test was positive in only 50% of these patients, while the other tests were had much better sensitivity.  We will be using the Cepheid test, which is currently giving turnaround results in 2 hours.  Not ideal, but better than the next day.

We have heard that other systems are having similar sensitivity issues with the Alere test, but this has not been well publicized.

------------------------------
Alan Peaceman
------------------------------

Alan, thanks for sharing this.  Really appreciate the information and your desire to help and share information.

------------------------------
Brian Iriye
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2020 22:37
From: Alan Peaceman
Subject: Testing

At Northwestern, we have received permission to begin testing all women admitted for delivery, including those that are asymptomatic.  However, we will not be using the Abbott point of care test (Alere platform) with the 15 minute turnaround.  Before being rolled out, it failed validation testing.  Swabs were obtained from know COVID + hospitalized patients for both PCR, Cepheid, and Alere testing.  The Alere test was positive in only 50% of these patients, while the other tests were had much better sensitivity.  We will be using the Cepheid test, which is currently giving turnaround results in 2 hours.  Not ideal, but better than the next day.

We have heard that other systems are having similar sensitivity issues with the Alere test, but this has not been well publicized.

------------------------------
Alan Peaceman
------------------------------

Thank you for this post. We are also validating the Abbott test and currently use the Cepheid test with a 1-2 hr TAT. Is there any published data for the Cepheid test for sensitivity? I suppose PCR is the gold standard so am not sure what we can compare it to...

------------------------------
Daniel Katz
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 04-07-2020 22:37
From: Alan Peaceman
Subject: Testing

At Northwestern, we have received permission to begin testing all women admitted for delivery, including those that are asymptomatic.  However, we will not be using the Abbott point of care test (Alere platform) with the 15 minute turnaround.  Before being rolled out, it failed validation testing.  Swabs were obtained from know COVID + hospitalized patients for both PCR, Cepheid, and Alere testing.  The Alere test was positive in only 50% of these patients, while the other tests were had much better sensitivity.  We will be using the Cepheid test, which is currently giving turnaround results in 2 hours.  Not ideal, but better than the next day.

We have heard that other systems are having similar sensitivity issues with the Alere test, but this has not been well publicized.

------------------------------
Alan Peaceman
------------------------------