TY - JOUR
T1 - Planning For The Next Pandemic
T2 - Lab Systems Need Policy Shift To Speed Emerging Infectious Disease Warning And Tracking
AU - Varma, Jay K.
AU - Taylor, Jill
AU - Sharfstein, Joshua M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.
PY - 2023/3
Y1 - 2023/3
N2 - Early detection and ongoing monitoring of infectious diseases depends on diagnostic testing. The US has a large, diverse system of public, academic, and private laboratories that develop new diagnostic tests; perform routine testing; and conduct specialized reference testing, such as genomic sequencing. These laboratories operate under a complex mix of laws and regulations at the federal, state, and local levels. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed major weaknesses in the nation’s laboratory system, some of which were seen again during the global mpox outbreak in 2022. In this article we review how the US laboratory system has been designed to detect and monitor emerging infections, describe what gaps were revealed during COVID-19, and propose specific steps that policy makers can take both to strengthen the current system and to prepare the US for the next pandemic.
AB - Early detection and ongoing monitoring of infectious diseases depends on diagnostic testing. The US has a large, diverse system of public, academic, and private laboratories that develop new diagnostic tests; perform routine testing; and conduct specialized reference testing, such as genomic sequencing. These laboratories operate under a complex mix of laws and regulations at the federal, state, and local levels. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed major weaknesses in the nation’s laboratory system, some of which were seen again during the global mpox outbreak in 2022. In this article we review how the US laboratory system has been designed to detect and monitor emerging infections, describe what gaps were revealed during COVID-19, and propose specific steps that policy makers can take both to strengthen the current system and to prepare the US for the next pandemic.
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U2 - 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.01211
DO - 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.01211
M3 - Article
C2 - 36877905
AN - SCOPUS:85149999849
SN - 0278-2715
VL - 42
SP - 366
EP - 373
JO - Health Affairs
JF - Health Affairs
IS - 3
ER -