Heroes in the Duke Pathology Department are at the forefront fighting COVID-19.
This past week, Duke Health System surpassed the 10,000 test mark for COVID-19 tests performed on patients. This is an amazing accomplishment given that it was performed during times of severe supply chain limitations. We accomplished this by developing multiple, overlapping, redundant test systems in our laboratories. In our labs, we perform COVID-19 tests on five different testing platforms. All of these platforms have been extensively validated for their analytic sensitivity (limit of viral detection) and reproducibility. On any one system, we would have limited access to reagents and we would not have been able to meet the demands of our health system. Using all five, we are in the unique position of having more supply for testing than demand. We have used some of this excess capacity to aid a local skilled nursing facility (PruittHealth – Carolina Point) by testing all residents and many of their staff during a recent outbreak investigation. Now, we are partnering with others in the state to figure out the best way to get testing to everyone who needs it. As we begin the planning process for how we will open up our health system and our state for the business, our labs are rapidly working to validate serologic testing approaches to help us determine who has been exposed to the virus and potentially who is immune. Such information is critical in our plans to create COVID-19 low-risk care environments.
Kudos to our lab leaders Drs. Michael Datto, Chris Polage, Catherine Rehder, Mark Lee, Diana Cardona, to members of the Microbiology and Molecular Pathology laboratories, and to Tom Denny and his team in the Human Vaccine Institute, whose tireless work made this possible.