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Widespread testing for Covid-19 is credited in a new federally-backed study with the capture and arrest of asymptomatic spread among nearly 2,000 marine recruits, providing more evidence that frequent testing can help contain the virus .
Dr Stuart Sealfon, lead author of the article and neurologist at Icahn School of Medicine in Mt. Sinai in New York, said the study shows that public health measures need to be supplemented with widespread testing to control the coronavirus.
“You have to put all of these infection control measures in place as best you can, and you have to supplement or integrate them with as much testing and as frequent testing as possible,” he said during a telephone interview. He added that “neither can you rely on testing alone.
Many epidemiologists and public health experts have repeatedly called on the Trump administration to increase the availability of tests across the country. As testing increased, Admiral Brett Giroir, the Trump administration’s assistant health secretary and virus testing czar, said there was no need to test people who do not have symptoms.
The new study, released Wednesday, demonstrates the importance of frequent testing as an adjunct to infection prevention measures, Sealfon said.
Funded by the Defense Health Agency, the Naval Medical Research Center and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the study looked at 1,848 Marines in basic training on Parris Island in South Carolina from May 12 to July 15. The average age of the participants was 19 years old. the study says.
Before entering basic training, recruits were first asked to self-quarantine at home for two weeks and then be placed in two-week supervised quarantine on a college campus, according to the study. Before entering Parris Island, each recruit was required to present a negative Covid-19 molecular test. After entering, recruits were also urged to adhere to public health guidelines, including wearing masks and social distancing.
To study the asymptomatic spread of the virus among the relatively young population, the researchers tested all participants within two days, seven days and 14 days of arriving on Pettis Island using a molecular nasal swab test. , says the study.
The study found that 16 of the recruits tested positive for Covid-19 upon enrollment within two days of arrival, although they were quarantined four weeks in advance. Another 24 tested positive seven days after arriving at the base, according to the study, and 11 other recruits tested positive on day 14. Only five participants reported symptoms of Covid-19.
26 other recruits, who did not participate in the study, tested positive for the virus on day 14, according to the study.
Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Mt. The Icahn School of Medicine in Sinai performed genetic sequencing of the virus to better understand how it spread among the population. He found that there were six distinct groups of infections on the base despite all the public health protocols the Marine Corps had implemented.
“If you don’t do frequent and general testing in this type of young adult cohort, it’s very difficult to find all of the positive cases,” he said. “So just based on symptom screening, social distancing, mask wearing guidelines, it’s still possible to miss cases.”
Sealfon, the lead author, said their findings are in line with what the National Basketball Association went through earlier this year when they sought to create a so-called bubble that saw them end their season. The NBA performed daily Covid tests on all players and staff in the bubble and were successful in keeping the virus at bay.
Sealfon added that colleges and universities would do well to take note of the results of their study. Although infection control protocol is strictly followed at the Marine Base, students are less likely to practice social distancing and wearing masks, he said, making frequent testing all the more important. .
“Public health measures are very important, but they are not enough,” he said. “It’s a tough virus. You can’t let your guard down.”
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