Davao City: While the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test is considered in the Philippines as a golden standard for detecting corona virus, a Davao specialist for infectious diseases explained that the PCR is best only to diagnose the presence of the virus but it cannot detect full recovery of the patient from the said disease.
In One Davao on COVID19: A Virtual Presser held Monday (April 27), Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. Marie Yvette Barez admitted that the hospital re-admitted two patients after they were sent home and turned positive on COVID19 when re-tested.
“ One patient is not a healthcare worker, we recently repeated the test and it turned out positive but the patient is already asymptomatic. The other case is a healthcare worker who after being sent home for quarantine, was re-tested. The person complained about occasional dry cough. She was given no antibiotic but admitted to a non-hospital facility for close monitoring,” Dr. Barez said.
The specialist claimed that there have been many similar cases in Manila but are not just emphasized.
The ideal test to detect death of the virus is thru viral culture, she said. “ At present we do not have that facility in Davao City and we do not have the capability on that yet. It could have been the ideal test to detect if the virus is 100 percent dead in a person’s body”.
However, Barez emphasized that onset of these cases does not necessarily mean that a patient had a relapse especially if a person is already asymptomatic.
“PCR is actually not a good test for cure but good for diagnostics. We are only observing these patients just to make sure na wala na syang symptoms and continuous na ang recovery. As long as wala ng symptoms, they are safe to be sent home”, the specialist assured.
Barez also mentioned the rapid detection test that can already detect IGC or IGM or the antibodies of the patients. The presence of these antibodies would already detect the immunity of the person from the said virus.
“We are still waiting for a go signal. There are still many questions about this test, the rapid detection test. Hindi pa sya o wala pa syang local validation. It is still being validated by RITM.”
As of April 27, the SPMC had 78 patients admitted in the facility while 22 patients were admitted in the non-hospital facilities. There is a total of 100 admissions; 14 of which are inside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Barez announced that since it started receiving patients for admission, the numbers has gone down from 100 to 50 and last Sunday (April 26), the SPMC only received 13 new admissions and 17 consultations.
Of the 110 positive COVID19 patients admitted since Day 1, the SPMC has discharge 57 patients who have recovered from the disease. (PIA XI/Frances Mae Macapagat)