FSU Cost and Time Efficiency Critical Aspect in Diagnoses and Laboratory Discussion

After other threads have been posted, reply to at least 1 other classmate’s thread whose position, for any 2 of the 3 categories, is different from your own. The objective is to sway your classmate to your side. If most classmates’ threads are sympathetic to your own, critique their arguments rather than their conclusion. This makes the group’s overall conclusion stronger. In each case, your reply should consist of at least 2 concise sentences. If few threads contain category selections different from your own, then your reply may identify a weakness or omission in a thread that supports the same category as your own.

here is the post:

“And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” – Mark 2:17

For my discussion, I chose the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test as the one diagnostic technique from the Direct Examination of Specimen category as the best fitting test procedure to maximize time and cost-efficiency.

ELISA is an inexpensive, easy to perform, and rapid turn-over assay test that utilizes microtiter plate technology to detect viral antigens present in a clinical sample through specific antibody reactions. The reason I chose this was because of its easy preparation, inexpensive testing, easy procedure, and fast results that could provide a means to help hospital and laboratory processes go much faster and cover a vast array of infections and diseases.

1. Sample Analysis: The ELISA test utilizes the patient blood samples so it is very easy to collect and store for testing, whereas tests such as cell cultures, cytopathic effects, and animal disease or death confirmation in the indirect examination category must analyze samples of cell bodies that can take several days to weeks to analyze the growth and reactivity of the virions to the cells which serves as crucial disadvantages to laboratory protocols.
2. Viral Detection: Although this test does not cover all known viruses that might require more in-depth testing through electron and light microscopy, those testing methods are highly expensive and require professional microscopists and delicate supervision. The ELISA test can be an effective preliminary test that detects many popular viruses such as HIV, HBV, HCV, HTLV-1, adenovirus, cytomegalovirus, rotavirus, varicella-zoster virus, and zika virus so that expensive measures would not need to be taken if not necessary. The detection of viruses is done by a technician that adds a sample of the patient blood to a petri dish containing the specific antigen related to the condition for which they are being tested. If the blood contains antibodies to the antigens, the two will bind together. The technician will check this by adding an enzyme to the petri dish and observe how the overall reaction.
3. Diagnosis: The ELISA test gives results in under 48 hours that proves its strength in timeliness and as mentioned before, the binding of the antigen and antibodies in the petri dish can help determine if the patient is positive for the particular viral infection that is being tested. It also has minimal post-procedural risks because it was simply a blood draw, where for example with radioimmunoassay in the serology category, it is an extremely sensitive and specialized test that utilizes radioactive substances that both the patient and technician must take precautions.

Sources:

Healthline.2020.ELISA: Purpose, Procedure, and Results. Available at:

Yoshihara N. [ELISA for diagnosis of infections by viruses]. Nihon Rinsho. 1995 Sep;53(9):2277-82. Japanese. PMID: 7474393.

The Holy Bible, Book of Mark

here is example of a reply:

I really enjoyed reading your reasonings, it is very apparent that you spent some time researching these diagnostic practices. The objective of this reply thread is to potentially change your mind when it comes to the diagnostic tests performed.

I, like you think that ELISA is a fantastic tool in order to aid in a viral treatment of a patient. While ELISA is very specific to the antibodies that may match up with the antigens presented in the test, these antigens are just that, specific. What I mean is that the hospital is limited when it comes to the number of different ELISA’s that it may have on hand at any given time. Yes, there is a good chance that the virus that is in question is one that the hospital can test against, but this may not be the case all the time. With viral detection being a crucial part in the treatment process, having the type of specificity that ELISA offers may not be of the upmost importance when trying to narrow down which virus is in question initially. In my discussion I mentioned how while more expensive, electron microscopy (EM) analyzed by a trained professional can be a great diagnostic tool used at the beginning of the viral detection process because it allows for the initial scope of possible viruses to be narrowed down to a single family. ELISA Could be used as a next step after EM to have a more directed approach to viral detection.

With regards to sample analysis and duration of diagnosis I agree that ELISA is a useful tool in providing relatively quick results for an ailing patient. However, one could say that the EM sampling process is quicker and less intrusive. With samples coming from any form of bodily fluid or fecal matter EM allows the provider to not only have the accessibilities that are associated with ELISA sampling, but other methods if drawing blood is not advisable at a given time. The treatment of the sample with negative staining also allows flexibility with respect to the physical makeup of the sample. The sample can be dried, old or fresh. The same cannot be said about the versatility of the ELISA sampling. In a perfect world the ELISA testing and results come back in 48 hours, but that is only taking into account if specificity matches up with both the viral antibodies and the ELISA antigens on the first go around. I believe with the implementation of an EM first examination followed by an ELISA follow up, the potential for routine quick diagnoses is enhanced as opposed to an ELISA only process.

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