Challenges to testing COVID-19 in conflict zones: Yemen as an example

When news came in from China about a new coronavirus, no one anticipated the situation we are facing today: a pandemic paralyzing the global economy, billions of people staying at home, and health care systems on the verge of collapse even in developed countries. Immunological assays are further cla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of global health Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 010375
Main Authors Dhabaan, Ghulam N, Al-Soneidar, Walid A, Al-Hebshi, Nezar N
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Scotland Edinburgh University Global Health Society 01.06.2020
International Society of Global Health
Subjects
Antibodies
Antigens
Armed Conflicts
Clinical Laboratory Techniques - statistics & numerical data
Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 diagnostic tests
COVID-19 Testing
Dentistry
Developed countries
Epidemiology
Global economy
Global health
Health Services Accessibility
Humans
Immunology
Industrialized nations
Laboratories
Microbiology
Occupational health
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Public health
Serology
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Viewpoints
Yemen - epidemiology
Yemen
Canada
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Summary:When news came in from China about a new coronavirus, no one anticipated the situation we are facing today: a pandemic paralyzing the global economy, billions of people staying at home, and health care systems on the verge of collapse even in developed countries. Immunological assays are further classified into two types: one works by identifying antibodies produced in response to infection (also called indirect or serological tests); the other is designed to detect viral proteins (direct or antigen detection tests). Since it can take up to 20 days for COVID-19 patients to make detectable antibodies [5], antibodies-assays are primarily useful for surveillance of the recovered rather than active cases diagnosis. Combining antigen detection and serological test can allow the best of the two worlds – enhanced diagnostic ability of new cases and ease of use in resource-limited settings. 1 Department of Microbiology, Mount Sinai Hospital & University Health Network – University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada 2 Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada 3 Oral Microbiome Research Laboratory, Department of Oral Health Sciences, Kornberg School of Dentistry, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
ISSN:2047-2978
2047-2986
DOI:10.7189/JOGH.10.010375