Thread by @med1cinewoman

So few words so much to say.....in between the lines!
This is from the FDA's update on testing guidelines current as of July 28, 2020.
Let's unpack this brief statement at try understand what it says and what it means.1/

The SARS-Cov-2 assay is INTENDED for the PRESUMPTIVE QUALITATIVE detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2.
Note the careful selection of keywords:
"intended" means resulting from intention or what is planned or proposed not necessarily what is established by 2/

way of evidence-based scientific inquiry or facts.
"presumptive" or based on presumption, or belief and probability not necessarily confirmed and factual.
Basically, the assay is meant to be used on the basis of presumption to detect the presence of viral RNA.3/

The assay is not designed to measure viral load/quantity, only detect presumed viral blueprint (based not on actual virus isolate, but on the basis of FDA genome bank material - this information is also available and easy to confirm). 4/

So, the assay is being calibrated to presumably detect something they don't have a true image of, but rather a presumed approximation of something they believe may be close enough to the real thing. Got it!5/

Keyword "generally" in "generally detectable during the acute phase of infection.Generally,but not exclusively!Viral fragments may be detected during the acute stage as well as post-infection as the virus while non-infectious still persists in the body & hence may be detected.6/

Again, what the test is detecting is not the virus itself but virus RNA. In other words, the infectious status of a person based solely on the presence of viral fragments can not be established.7/

Then they bring you to the desired conclusion, which is that a positive test means you have the virus. That's the case they expect you to build. What is actually said in the document is that a positive result indicates the presence of virus RNA. Don't read to much into this. 8/

What is it says is what it means.
It is further implied that further diagnostic information is necessary in order to determine a PATIENT's infectious status. True, the test should not be used as a sole diagnostic tool outside of clinical context. 9/

However, the keyword PATIENT already suggests the tested person is presumably ill or infected.
Relying heavily on reader's bias and using strong suggestive techniques, the keywords "positive results", "SARS-CoV-2", "infectious status" and "patient" 10/

will easily bring one to the conclusion that "A positive test means you are infected with the virus." That's exactly what they want you to think, although that is clearly not the case.
It is interesting that they leave the most important statement for the very end.11/

"Positive results do not rule out bacterial infection or co-infection with other viruses. The agent detected may not be the definite cause of disease."12/

This sums it up! A positive result doesn't necessarily mean you have SARS-CoV-2 nor that this particular virus is the definitive cause of your symptoms. It could be ANY type of bacteria or virus.13/

Basically, the test results are meaningless as they can't establish infectious status nor can they determine with certainty that SARS-CoV-2 is the pathogen responsible for illness in those exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID diagnosis. 14/

In he case of testing asymptomatic individuals this notion is even more fantastical for obvious reasons.
Oh, by the way, the test may be intended to detect multiple pathogens, so not specific to SARS-CoV-2.15/

The problem is that by the time the casual reader reached this last statement they have already have been primed to belief that a positive test equates with infection and hence illness.16/

The use of PCR tests for establishing cases of COVID-19 allegedly caused by SARS-CoV-2 is nothing short of scientific fraud.
I rest my case. 17/