SDJim Profile picture
Physician (Int Med, Geriatrics) - retired (too soon). Health/science reader/educator. Photographer. Day Trader. Rapid Cty DM open for info, questions, concerns.

Aug 15, 2020, 8 tweets

Reality check time. Maybe my expectations are too high.

I believe that South Dakota Dept of Health @SDDOH should have used their platform to educate & inform people in the state –locals & visitors alike– about the GROSSLY ILLOGICAL use of CoV ANTIBODY TESTING in Sturgis.

THREAD

The @SDDOH EPIDEMIOLOGIST was asked about a vendor selling ANTIBODY testing at STURGIS rally. He said something to the effect of “NOT MY JOB to regulate the testing or results” and said it’s UP TO THE PEOPLE to ask questions. He said test should be given by healthcare pros.

I am NOT an epidemiologist, and I am NOT a SD gov official,

— but if I were—

I would have taken the opportunity at the press conference to explain to the MEDIA & the public that NO ONE should get “PEACE OF MIND” on their way out of town due to a CORONAVIRUS antibody test.

Antibodies to fight coronavirus have to be manufactured from scratch after a person gets infected. It takes many days to develop measurable antibodies in the blood. Test makers recommend waiting AT LEAST -8- DAYS after you get infected before considering an antibody test.

Think about the TIMING. If you came to the rally, on which day was your last potential exposure? Day 1? Day 5? Day 8?? If you didn’t get exposed/infected until Day 5, when would you expect to have detectable antibodies in your blood?

I’ll let you do the math.

So, sure, if you arrived at the rally in the first few days and then went into STRICT ISOLATION FOR A WEEK, and then tested negative for antibodies I suppose you can find comfort in your NEGATIVE test result. Whew.

But just about any other scenario in which you tested NEGATIVE will almost certainly be a FALSE NEGATIVE. Have NO PEACE OF MIND !! Don’t go home and say “all is fine, I tested negative before I left”.

I’m sorry to be the one to tell you that you were duped.

If I was the state epidemiologist (Dr. Josh Clayton -PhD in Epidemiology) I would not have walked away from the opportunity to teach you, to protect you. Maybe I couldn’t shut down that “business” but I’d have yelled out loudly - DO NOT DO IT !

@SturgisRally @RCJSturgisRally

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