Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE IMPLEMENTATION IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Digital Health
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Unwell in America
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Patient Care
Sponsored Content Provided By Thermo Fisher Scientific
This content was created by and paid for by an advertiser. The Crain's editorial department was not involved in the creation of this content.
October 01, 2022 01:00 AM

Monkeypox testing remains low despite growing number of cases

Manoj Gandhi, Thermo Fisher Scientific

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    thermo fisher

    Right on the heels of COVID-19, monkeypox has emerged as a global health emergency, spreading around the world. Tens of thousands have already been diagnosed with the virus, and many more could lie undetected due to a lack of testing accessibility and information explaining disease risk. This is because a testing strategy still has yet to have been solidified, with diagnostics conducted largely at STI clinics, despite the virus not being a sexually transmitted illness1. Tests are not being made readily available, and public health officials are still in the process of explaining to individuals that anyone can catch the disease, instead of just the men who have sex with men (MSM) community. However, lessons from the past could point to solutions that can still be implemented to help improve the lives of those that could be impacted.

    Perhaps similar to monkeypox, the Zika virus had a swirl of confusion and misinformation in its early days as well as a lack of available testing2, and the Ebola virus often did not have proper communications or tests available during several of its outbreaks3. This led to both diseases spreading further, making later containment more difficult. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread testing wasn’t available and numbers were underreported, allowing infected individuals to expose others to the virus because they didn’t know their status. This could have potentially lulled those in charge of public health responses and the public into a mindset that the virus had spread less than it had, ultimately leading to the current pandemic.

    It is easy to see the parallels with monkeypox, where again, we have public confusion about viral characteristics and limited testing availability. Both of these factors could potentially lead to cases ballooning beyond what public health officials are aware of, and in turn, causing a lag in effective responses. The United States, for instance, allowed very few labs to process4 monkeypox tests when the virus was first suspected of spreading, leading to under testing and under reporting, which caused a backlog of tests needing to be processed in some instances5. Some companies have already jumped into the fray to support testing capabilities, which has already started to help get a further grip on the virus. For instance, Mako Medical Laboratories has partnered with Thermo Fisher Scientific to provide MAKO with the reagents to create a PCR test for monkeypox6, but still more can be done by those in the industry to make tests more accessible and regulatory bodies allowing for more labs to be authorized to run tests.

    Perhaps most critically, public health organizations and agencies need to be engaged at every level, but especially in local communities around the globe. They are the first lines of defense against any emergency, providing care and information to those that need it, and tracking the spread of viruses as they emerge. However, they are often underfunded and understaffed7, meaning commercial labs and other organizations, such as hospitals, need to come alongside to ensure public health emergencies like these are properly handled.

    Going in tandem with that support, in order to ensure we’re giving communities the best chance possible to counteract the ongoing surge of monkeypox, we need to destigmatize the disease to encourage testing and make tests widely accessible. This means not just being available in STI clinics, but also to anybody that needs them at sites in their communities, in as pervasive of a way that COVID-19 tests became available during the peak of the pandemic. The labs should be able to provide answers clearly and quickly, so individuals can isolate8 or receive treatment as needed.

    Progress in the testing arena also requires additional education about how monkeypox infects and spreads, so people know when they or their loved ones need to get tested. Once general populations better digest available health information and understand that they are all at risk of contracting the virus with prolonged contact with an infected individual, not just through intimate contact, the demand for testing is expected to increase proportionally.

    While the first effort at slowing down monkeypox hasn’t been a success, there is still an opportunity, as well as an obligation, to further curb the spread. Public health officials, clinicians, laboratorians, and test manufacturers have an obligation to use all of the tools at their disposal to help protect individuals from the virus as well as write the blueprint for how to successfully manage health crises in the future.


    1https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/transmission.html
    2https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/JCM.01972-17
    3https://media.nature.com/original/magazine-assets/d41586-019-00212-y/d41586-019-00212-y.pdf
    4https://www.healio.com/news/infectious-disease/20220718/five-commercial-labs-now-performing-monkeypox-testing-in-us
    5https://time.com/6198670/monkeypox-testing-difficult-slow/
    6https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/07/11/2477156/0/en/MAKO-Medical-Validates-Monkeypox-Test-from-Thermo-Fisher-Scientific.html
    7https://www.npr.org/2020/04/28/845484900/public-health-labs-suffered-budget-cuts-prior-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic
    8https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/clinicians/isolation-procedures.html


    About the author

    Manoj Gandhi, MD, PhD, is the senior medical director for the genetic testing solutions business at Thermo Fisher Scientific, and is part of the team that provides medical strategy, medical and scientific oversight for product development, on-market product support, and customer engagement.

    Sponsored by

    thermo fisher

    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Digital Health
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Unwell in America
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing