Oh! So THAT’s what a pathologist does during the coronavirus pandemic
Until the COVID-19 outbreak, most people gave little thought to laboratory testing. When your doctor says, “We’ll send it to the lab,” naturally you expect to get timely and accurate test results. But this year’s pandemic spotlights that what occurs in the laboratory to generate those results is a complex task.
On March 1, Gov. DeSantis announced that the first two Floridians tested positive for the coronavirus. One was a 29-year-old
Hillsborough County woman who had recently traveled to Italy. The second was a 63-year-old Manatee County man who had contact with someone who tested positive.
As pathologists at the University of Miami Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, we are the doctors who developed and validated the in-house realtime polymerized chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing that identifies SARS-CoV-2 infection. We lead dedicated teams of highly trained medical laboratory professionals, whose mission is to identify, acquire, validate and implement the required equipment, reagents, protocols and analysis to accurately test our patients. Moreover, it is we, the pathologists, who assist clinical colleagues in integrating these results into the patient-management strategies.
In order to rise to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to make certain that we have the volume of tests needed so that not a single patient served by our healthcare system goes without testing. At the University of Miami, the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine is fortunate to have institutional collaboration and support from several entities across the medical campus to further develop the COVID-19 testing capabilities.
These entities include the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Department of Human Genetics, the Hussmann Institute of Human Genomics, the Immunology and Histocompatibility Laboratory and Jackson Health System, among others.
In our role as the “doctors’
doctor” pathologists work with clinical colleagues to determine which tests are best suited to provide them the answers needed to deliver the best care possible to patients and to discharge them safely back into the community. We also collect and compile data in order to extrapolate conclusions that will help expand our understanding of the pathophysiology and natural history of the disease, and even go as far as predict outcome and providing information that can be of prognostic significance to our patients.
We are also implementing serological testing that detects antibodies against viral protein particles. Recovered individuals who have developed antibodies can then volunteer to donate their plasma, which can then be administered to a select group of severely ill coronavirus-positive patients who may qualify for an experimental treatment known as convalescent plasma exchange. These serological tests can also be used to identify healthcare workers who may have been infected with the virus and determine whether they can safely return to work to continue the fight against this pandemic.
This year, we observed National Medical Laboratory Professionals Week from April 19-25. It was a good time to reflect on the hard work and dedication these skilled physicians and laboratorians deliver to patients every day, every week, every year. While you may not always see us, know that we care deeply about you, your health and the health of our community.
During this difficult time, I can assure you that across the country, pathologists, laboratory professionals and public-health experts are working together, with determined dedication, to deliver tests to communities in need. Together, we will succeed.