ssidedawg said:
Again, quoting individuals is kinda silly. Medicine doesnt work with 1-5 people making statements and everything rushes towards that new method. Thankfully that is the case as medicine would be far different today and everyday everytime someone posted an anecdotal story or a small case study.
Its month 9 of the virus and the world is learning as we go. For you to keep making definitive statements is weird. I know people with lots of letters after their name who still are figuring this thing out. Heck, the links you post arent definitive!
This is from the very first paragraph:
"Some of the nation's leading public health experts say that the most commonly used type of coronavirus test in America could be generating positive results for large numbers of people who are carrying low levels of the virus and therefore may not be contagious, Apoorva Mandavilli reports for the New York Times."
LOL. I quoted a virologist and MD/PhD with expertise in immunology/epidemiology/infectious disease. I also cited actual CDC data. It is ridiculous to be using a Ct of 40 on PCR tests.
And comparing a PCR test to colonoscopy and mammograms is idiocy. If someone gets a colonoscopy and polyps are discovered, the physician is going to biopsy the polyps first, not start the patient on chemotherapy. If a mammogram reveals a breast lesion they are going to biopsy that lesion first, not start the patient on chemotherapy. They also know what factors indicate a biopsy vs not getting a biopsy.
A PCR test only detects genomic material. It tells you nothing about whether the genomic material comes from live or dead virus. We know for a fact that viral RNA fragments can be detected for 12 weeks or more post-infection. We also know that samples get contaminated through improper handling by those performing swabs and lab technicians mishandling samples. It takes very little contamination to generate a false positive. That is why a Ct threshhold is important. The CDC's own study showed that beyond a Ct of 33 (that is 33 amplification cycles) no live virus was recovered. A Ct of 40 is generating a lot false positives.
Now, I would think that if you had a colonoscopy and they identified a few polyps that you would want them to biopsy those polyps first before injecting you with chemotherapy. Maybe I'm wrong. In the same way, if you are feeling fine and you had a positive COVID PCR test I would think you would want them to confirm that positive before telling you to isolate yourself for no reason. This virus has an IFR of 0.2%, twice that of flu, and you want to shut everything down over a PCR test with improperly established Ct thresholds? OK, you do you man.