If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Op-Ed: What If the Actual Number of COVID Cases Were 1/10 the Official Report? Harvard Doc Says It Might Be
The New York Times calls into question much more of what we have been toldAccording to Dr. Michael Mina, who is an epidemiologist at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, the typically used PCR test for coronavirus might well be missing the mark by that much.
The polymerase chain reactiontrillion little virus pieces.
Increasing the iterations in the test by 10 increased the number of little virus DNA pieces by more than 1,000 times.
The number of iterations required to qualify as a positive test result is called the cycle threshold. Mina said some labs are using a CT that is too high, one that may be so sensitive it can generate a positive test result if a person has such a small amount of the virus in his system that he is not contagious, or even that the test can count a test positive when no live virus is present in the person.
At such a high CT, the PCR test can multiply even dead virus fragments enough to generate a positive test result.
Juliet Morrison, a virologist from the University of California, Riverside, said a CT of 35 should be adequate. Mina believes the CT should be 30 or lower. The labs that most states are using are declaring a positive test result if enough copies of the virus DNA are created in 37 or 40 iterations.
The Times found data on CT values from labs in New Yorkexperts
Op-Ed: What If the Actual Number of COVID Cases Were 1/10 the Official Report? Harvard Doc Says It Might Be
The New York Times calls into question much more of what we have been toldAccording to Dr. Michael Mina, who is an epidemiologist at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, the typically used PCR test for coronavirus might well be missing the mark by that much.
The polymerase chain reactiontrillion little virus pieces.
Increasing the iterations in the test by 10 increased the number of little virus DNA pieces by more than 1,000 times.
The number of iterations required to qualify as a positive test result is called the cycle threshold. Mina said some labs are using a CT that is too high, one that may be so sensitive it can generate a positive test result if a person has such a small amount of the virus in his system that he is not contagious, or even that the test can count a test positive when no live virus is present in the person.
At such a high CT, the PCR test can multiply even dead virus fragments enough to generate a positive test result.
Juliet Morrison, a virologist from the University of California, Riverside, said a CT of 35 should be adequate. Mina believes the CT should be 30 or lower. The labs that most states are using are declaring a positive test result if enough copies of the virus DNA are created in 37 or 40 iterations.
The Times found data on CT values from labs in New Yorkexperts
Comment