Same-day PCR test is vital for independent clinic testing for multiple respiratory illnesses
December 2021 – Repertoire Magazine
When COVID-19 hit Columbus, Georgia, and the surrounding area in early 2020, Acute Care Emergence was one of only two places in the community testing for it. Terri Jordan, CEO, PA-C of Acute Care Emergence, said the independent clinic hasn’t had to close since the beginning of the pandemic.
“We were testing over 300 people a day,” Jordan said. “We weren’t set up for that, but we did it because we knew there weren’t other options for them.”
Now the independent clinic has swabbed close to an estimated 70,000 people. Its duty has included testing the general population, companies in Georgia and Alabama, and soldiers at nearby Fort Benning.
Cepheid’s Xpert® Xpress CoV-2/Flu/RSVplus – a PCR test – has been a game changer for Acute Care Emergence. It detects and differentiates between three distinct respiratory illnesses with four targets.1 That’s extremely important in this heightened respiratory season as people return to larger gatherings and other respiratory illnesses like flu and RSV emerge along with COVID-19. Cepheid’s 4-plex plus same-day testing allows same-day treatment for these respiratory illnesses.1
“Having a combination test like Cepheid’s 4-plex plus is incredible,” Jordan proclaimed. “We’ve been the leader in the community on testing for COVID-19 and we’ve had people come from five to six hours away to be tested and treated. We want our testing to be accurate. Cepheid’s Xpert® Xpress CoV-2/Flu/RSV plus gives us the ability to confirm, on the same day, whether someone has COVID-19, flu, or RSV.”
Jordan explained that the Delta variant led to a higher percentage of false negatives in antigen testing, but having access to Cepheid’s Xpert® Xpress CoV-2/Flu/RSV plus PCR test allowed for stronger confirmation and early treatment. “And those who have come from far away to be tested don’t have to come back,” she said. “We can also begin the correct treatment. For example, I had an elderly patient come in really sick and I thought she would have COVID-19. But she came back positive for RSV. So that changed the game.”
Swabbing upwards of 70,000 people has taught the staff at Acute Care Emergence a little bit of everything about diagnostic testing and the accuracy between antigen and PCR testing.
“PCR testing is the gold standard,” Jordan said. “For example, our flu and COVID-19 combination antigen tests would give us positive for flu, which I thought was odd. A mother and daughter came in pretty sick, and I thought they would have COVID-19, but one came back positive for COVID-19 and Flu A and the other one came back positive for Flu B on the antigen. That was odd. So, I ran the Cepheid 4-plex plus PCR and neither had flu, but both had COVID-19.”
Acute Care Emergence has been successful keeping patients out of the hospital during the pandemic. Jordan credited running Cepheid’s Xpert® Xpress CoV-2/Flu/RSV plus in helping to confirm diagnoses. “That way, we don’t send them back into the community to possibly infect others,” she said. “And if we can treat patients within the first three or four days of their symptoms, we can almost guarantee they’ll recover and not be admitted to the hospital.”
1 Xpert® Xpress CoV-2/Flu/RSV plus Package Insert 302-6991, Rev. A. September 2021.