Ensuring Accuracy For Self-Administered Tests

WAAY 31's Sydney Martin was live in Huntsville after talking to Hudson Alpha about the test and its work on the project.

About the test and its work on the project.

Today- hudson alpha president rick myers told me hudson alpha discussed the testing with u- a-b but is not involved in the test itself.

Myers told me the test is accurate- as long as the sample is collected properly.

Rick myers, president, science director hudson alpha"the test they are doing at uab is not different than it's essentially the cdc test.

It's essentially the same test diatherix is doing here with some subtle differences."

The biggest difference is self-testing.

Hudson alpha president and science director rick myers told me he thinks it's the way to make testing more widely available and many different labs - some at hudson alpha- are working on those tests.

"if we are going to do this for 10's of thousands of people or even 100's of thousands of people on a regular basis...we don't have the medical facilities for people to come in and get swabbed etc.

One of the things that is exciting is it looks like you can do a variety of ways of collecting.

One of them is just doing a regular nasal swab rather than going deeply into the nasophryngeal cavity.

Myers explained the test run after a sample is collected can be extremely accurate and have a low rate of false positives or negatives.

But said acquiring the sample..will be the biggest challenge.

The guidesafe program launched by u-a-b will have in state students go to a local testing site - and out of state students will be mailed their test.

Rick myers, president, science director hudson alpha"we have to rely on people being honest and actually doing it and working hard to do it.

There are ways of controlling once you get the sample whether they collect it or not.

There is a positive way to know if someone dipped it in water or something instead."

Myers was emphatic.

Having students safely back on campus will rely more on social behavior than the science.

Rick myers, president, science director hudson alpha"i still have some reservations about about doing our best about trying to get everyone back to work or school.

I have some reservations about how we do that.

We need to make sure this works.

They basically need to have compliance officers at universities in dorms and fraternities and sororities and wherever people are staying.

In order to make this work.

Something like that.

I don't know how to solve the social behavior problems as much as i do the scientific one."

Hudson alpha told me today they're working on other types of sample collection for self-administered tests that include patients coughing into a cup or swishing around a special mouth wash for sample collection.

Neither of those options are ready to be rolled out just yet.

Live in huntsville sm waay 31 news.