Dr. Keith Price

The Times Observer asked the Warren General Hospital medical team to help us get information out to our readers through the COVID-19 FAQ-3. Twice a week, or more, we will pose our questions, and your questions, to the experts.

If you would like the Times Observer to submit a question to the WGH medical team, email jsitler@timesobserver.com and we will forward those questions.

Three questions about the coronavirus outbreak

Answers provided by medical team at Warren General Hospital: Joe Akif, Chief Nursing Officer; Michele Welker, RN, Infection Control Nurse; Beth Anderson, RN, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator; Keith Price, MD,Medical Director.

1. Can house pets spread COVID? How about mosquitoes?

Joe Akif

There has been no evidence that the Coronavirus has ever been spread from mosquitoes to humans. Some animals (bats, cattle, & camels) have been known to get infections from other strains of this virus & one study found a dog who harbored the COVID-19 virus. However, transmission from dogs to humans has never been proven. The Coronavirus strains that caused previous human infections (SARS & MERS) evidently originated in animals & spread to humans, though this transmission is thought to be rare. Studies are ongoing now for COVID-19, with suspicion that an armadillo-like animal called a pangolin might have been the source of this scourge.

The main way it is spread is by droplet transmission from one person to another.

2. I can’t understand why more testing is not being done. If someone has a positive test, then they could get the proper medication.

First, testing supplies have been very scarce throughout the United States. We would love to be able to do more testing, which would help in knowing how prevalent the virus is in a community, how many people have very mild or no symptoms at all, yet harbor the virus, etc. The tests have just not been available to do that.

Secondly, there is no specific treatment for this disease, like penicillin for Strep throat. Some medicines have been shown to perhaps have slight benefit, but the mainstay of treatment is supportive care (like oxygen & breathing treatments). Using the much milder viral illness called mononucleosis as an example, we have common tests to make the diagnosis. So we can say, “Yes, you have mono,” but we have no antiviral to change the course of that illness either.

Michele Welker

Our limited tests are being saved for patients in whom test results will significantly change how they are treated. Health care workers, law enforcement officials, and first responders are desperately needed in the work force right now. If they got fevers & coughs and we had no testing, they would be isolated for 14 days before being able to return. With testing, if negative, they can return as soon as they are able. In patients with moderate to severe disease, making a definitive diagnosis is important in ruling out other causes and in treatment plans.

3. So, testing supplies are scarce. Why can’t companies just make more testing materials quickly?

That is a hard question to answer. We have wondered the same thing!

A number of factors come into play. Previously, only a few companies made the testing materials. The swabs to get the sample are a very specific. Using a regular cotton swab can interfere with testing. Once taken, the swab sample is put into a special “soup” to transport it to the lab. Once in the lab, a very complex array of materials is needed to actually look for viral parts. Each test method has to meet rigid standards to make sure the test results are accurate.

So, it seems that the sudden overwhelming need for swabs, transport tubes, and all the other materials needed for the procedure has overwhelmed the system. And this doesn’t take into account the exhausted lab technicians performing this multitude of tests!

Bethany Anderson

One more factor… the shelf life for test materials is short, so stock-piling them “just in case” becomes very expensive.