Performing under Pressure: Insights into the Diagnostic Testing Burden at a UK National Health Service Clinical Virology Laboratory during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic
UK National Health Service (NHS) Clinical Virology Departments provide a repertoire of tests on clinical samples to detect the presence of viral genomic material or host immune responses to viral infection. In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged which quickly developed into a glo...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Viruses |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/10/2233 |
| _version_ | 1797469618572361728 |
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| author | Paul William Bird Georgina Taylor Jessica Cafferata Judi Gardener Claire L. McMurray Oliver Fletcher Oliver T. R. Toovey Christopher W. Holmes Julian W. Tang |
| author_facet | Paul William Bird Georgina Taylor Jessica Cafferata Judi Gardener Claire L. McMurray Oliver Fletcher Oliver T. R. Toovey Christopher W. Holmes Julian W. Tang |
| author_sort | Paul William Bird |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | UK National Health Service (NHS) Clinical Virology Departments provide a repertoire of tests on clinical samples to detect the presence of viral genomic material or host immune responses to viral infection. In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged which quickly developed into a global pandemic; NHS laboratories responded rapidly to upscale their testing capabilities. To date, there is little information on the impact of increased SARS-CoV-2 screening on non-SARS-CoV-2 testing within NHS laboratories. This report details the virology test requests received by the Leicester-based NHS Virology laboratory from January 2018 to May 2022. Data show that in spite of a dramatic increase in screening, along with multiple logistic and staffing issues, the Leicester Virology Department was mostly able to maintain the same level of service for non-respiratory virus testing while meeting the new increase in SARS-CoV-2 testing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:22:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3e57dadb92564252aa8c3e5921cdd6ec |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4915 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T19:22:45Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Viruses |
| spelling | doaj.art-3e57dadb92564252aa8c3e5921cdd6ec2023-11-24T03:09:51ZengMDPI AGViruses1999-49152022-10-011410223310.3390/v14102233Performing under Pressure: Insights into the Diagnostic Testing Burden at a UK National Health Service Clinical Virology Laboratory during the SARS-CoV-2 PandemicPaul William Bird0Georgina Taylor1Jessica Cafferata2Judi Gardener3Claire L. McMurray4Oliver Fletcher5Oliver T. R. Toovey6Christopher W. Holmes7Julian W. Tang8Department of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UKDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UKDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UKDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UKDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UKDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UKDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UKDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UKDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE1 5WW, UKUK National Health Service (NHS) Clinical Virology Departments provide a repertoire of tests on clinical samples to detect the presence of viral genomic material or host immune responses to viral infection. In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged which quickly developed into a global pandemic; NHS laboratories responded rapidly to upscale their testing capabilities. To date, there is little information on the impact of increased SARS-CoV-2 screening on non-SARS-CoV-2 testing within NHS laboratories. This report details the virology test requests received by the Leicester-based NHS Virology laboratory from January 2018 to May 2022. Data show that in spite of a dramatic increase in screening, along with multiple logistic and staffing issues, the Leicester Virology Department was mostly able to maintain the same level of service for non-respiratory virus testing while meeting the new increase in SARS-CoV-2 testing.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/10/2233COVID-19SARS-CoV-2pandemicdiagnosticsnon-SARS-CoV-2routine |
| spellingShingle | Paul William Bird Georgina Taylor Jessica Cafferata Judi Gardener Claire L. McMurray Oliver Fletcher Oliver T. R. Toovey Christopher W. Holmes Julian W. Tang Performing under Pressure: Insights into the Diagnostic Testing Burden at a UK National Health Service Clinical Virology Laboratory during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Viruses COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic diagnostics non-SARS-CoV-2 routine |
| title | Performing under Pressure: Insights into the Diagnostic Testing Burden at a UK National Health Service Clinical Virology Laboratory during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic |
| title_full | Performing under Pressure: Insights into the Diagnostic Testing Burden at a UK National Health Service Clinical Virology Laboratory during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Performing under Pressure: Insights into the Diagnostic Testing Burden at a UK National Health Service Clinical Virology Laboratory during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Performing under Pressure: Insights into the Diagnostic Testing Burden at a UK National Health Service Clinical Virology Laboratory during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic |
| title_short | Performing under Pressure: Insights into the Diagnostic Testing Burden at a UK National Health Service Clinical Virology Laboratory during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic |
| title_sort | performing under pressure insights into the diagnostic testing burden at a uk national health service clinical virology laboratory during the sars cov 2 pandemic |
| topic | COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 pandemic diagnostics non-SARS-CoV-2 routine |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/10/2233 |
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