Why don’t we (still) have rapid viral diagnostics?
One of the most disappointing outcomes in the US from the COVID pandemic was the rise of the antivaxxer / public health skeptic and the dramatic politicization of public health measures.
But, not everything disappointing has stemmed from that. Our lack of cheap rapid tests for diseases like Flu and RSV is a sad reminder of our regulatory system failing to learn from the COVID crisis of the value of cheap, rapid in-home testing or adopting to the new reality that many Americans now know how to do such testing.
“Dr. Michael Mina, the chief science officer for the at-home testing company eMed, said the FDA tends to have strict requirements for over-the-counter tests. The agency often asks manufacturers to conduct studies that demonstrate that people can administer at-home tests properly — a process that may cost millions of dollars and delay the test’s authorization by months or years, Mina said. “It’s taken a very long time in the past to get new self-tests authorized, like HIV tests or even pregnancy tests,” he said. “They’ve taken years and years and years and years. We have a pretty conservative regulatory approach.””
— Aria Bendix · Rapid tests for Covid, RSV and the flu are available in Europe. Why not in the U.S.? (NBC News)
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