Kansas labs set cycle thresholds too high, detect non-contagious virus By Danedri Herbert <https://sentinelksmo.org/author/dherbert/> - October 12, 2020 8375
0 <https://sentinelksmo.org/kansas-labs-set-cycle-thresholds-too-high-detect-non-contagious-virus/#respond> https://sentinelksmo.org/kansas-labs-set-cycle-thresholds-too-high-detect-non-contagious-virus/ The New York Times *reported* <https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html> in August that some of the nation’s leading public health officials say the standard COVID tests with cycle thresholds at 40 or higher are “diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively insignificant amounts of the virus.” Virologists and most researchers, including the Centers for Disease Control, agree that it is difficult to find live virus capable of transmission beyond 34 cycles. But the Kansas state lab, which conducts about 24% of all tests in the state, is using a cycle threshold of *42 cycles* <https://www.communitycareks.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/SARS-CoV-2_COVID-19-virus-PCR-Ct-Cutoff-Values100520.pdf> and likely finding dead virus particles that can’t be transmitted to others. The *Sentinel* found private labs are also using cycle thresholds above virus viability. *Quest Diagnostics <https://www.fda.gov/media/136231/download>*, in Lenexa and Salina, sets their cycle threshold at 40. *LabCorp <https://www.fda.gov/media/136151/download>*, in Kansas City, KS, Kansas City, MO, Lawrence, Overland Park, Salina, and Wichita, sets their PCR test to a cycle threshold of 38. Michael Mina, an assistant professor of epidemiology at both Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health told *Harvard Magazine* <https://harvardmagazine.com/2020/08/covid-19-test-for-public-health> that *reporting someone positive on a test with a high cycle threshold is like finding a hair in a room, testing it for DNA, and then saying the person who shed that hair is currently in the room. * *Click on the link for the rest.* --- Support News from Underground: https://bit.ly/NFUSupport Visit News from Underground: https://markcrispinmiller.com You received this email because you are subscribed to News from Underground. To unsubscribe from this email list, please go to: http://www.simplelists.com/confirm.php?u=pIdjNUgiG2h8yxbhC54SSy4SEskAoEMs For archives, please go to: https://archives.simplelists.com/nfu
