COLUMBUS – People suspected of carrying the Zika virus can wait weeks for test results from a federal lab.
The wait can be nerve-racking for patients, especially pregnant women, and frustrating for local health officials who can’t take precautions to stem the potential spread of the virus.
But that changed in Ohio this week. On Wednesday, the Ohio Department of Health began testing for the Zika virus within seven days of a patient developing symptoms.
READ MORE: In The Columbus Dispatch
“We can significantly speed up initial test results for patients who are anxiously waiting on them,” Dr. Mary DiOrio, medical director for the department, said in a statement. “We anticipate sharing initial test results with submitters, such as doctors’ offices, hospitals or local health departments, within 48 hours of receiving the blood specimen.”
The genetic material of the Zika virus often can be detected in blood specimens collected within seven days after the appearance of symptoms at the department’s Reynoldsburg lab using a test known as real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.
DiOrio, says initial results could be provided to doctors and local health departments within 48 hours of the lab receiving a blood specimen while the specimens will continue to be sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for confirmation of results.
The virus is mainly spread through mosquito bites and causes mild or no symptoms in most people. Officials are investigating whether there’s a link between Zika infections in pregnant women and a rare birth defect.