我想擴大我的社交圈。我要先做冠狀病毒檢測嗎?

我想擴大我的社交圈。我要先做冠狀病毒檢測嗎?

Let's face it, if you've been staying home a lot, you're probably pretty tired of looking at the same faces. It feels like well past time to start seeing other people, to visit or host relatives and dear friends. So how can you do this without unknowingly spreading the virus or getting exposed?

讓我們面對現(xiàn)實吧，如果你經(jīng)常呆在家里，你可能已經(jīng)厭倦了看著同樣的面孔。感覺好像早就該去見別人了，去拜訪或者招待親戚朋友了。那么，如何才能做到這一點，而又不被不知不覺地傳播病毒或暴露在病毒之下呢?

Recently my husband and I debated this when our son, who lives in another state, said he'd like to come home for a visit. He lives with roommates in a city with a high rate of infection, and he works in a restaurant. We thought of having him get a diagnostic test to find out if he is infected. That way, if he got back a negative test, our problems would be solved, right?

最近，住在另一個州的兒子說他想回家看看，于是我和丈夫就這個問題展開了辯論。他和室友住在一個感染率很高的城市，他在一家餐館工作。我們想給他做個診斷測試看看他是否被感染了。這樣的話，如果他的測試結(jié)果是陰性，我們的問題就解決了，對吧?

Well, when I called up a few infectious disease specialists to ask if this all made sense, I discovered that using a diagnostic test for the coronavirus this way can be problematic. Here's what I learned.

嗯，當我打電話給一些傳染病專家詢問這一切是否有意義時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)用這種方法對冠狀病毒進行診斷測試可能會有問題。以下是我學到的。

First, which test are we talking about?

首先，我們討論的是哪個測試?

Currently the most commonly available test that can detect an active infection is the molecular or PCR test, typically collected via a swab in the nose or the back of the throat. These tests look for the virus's genetic material — and are highly sensitive. Another kind of diagnostic test is an antigen test that can detect the coronavirus's proteins — these are less sensitive, says Daniel Green, a pathologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and can be less accurate.

目前最常用的檢測活動性感染的檢測方法是分子檢測或PCR檢測，通常通過鼻腔或咽喉后部的棉簽采集。這些測試尋找病毒的遺傳物質(zhì)，并且高度敏感。哥倫比亞大學歐文醫(yī)學中心的病理學家丹尼爾·格林說，另一種診斷測試是一種抗原測試，它可以檢測出冠狀病毒的蛋白質(zhì)——這些蛋白質(zhì)不太敏感，而且不太準確。

If I get a negative result on a PCR diagnostic test, can I be certain I won't infect someone I want to spend time with?

如果我的PCR診斷測試結(jié)果呈陰性，我能確定我不會感染我想要共度時光的人嗎?

Like everything with this pandemic, the answer is complicated. The infectious disease experts I spoke to told me there are two reasons why testing might not be very helpful. The first has to do with the length of time it takes to get your test results back these days — up to a week or more in some places for PCR tests. By the time you get your results back, you could have unknowingly been exposed to the virus, making the original test irrelevant.

就像這場流行病的所有事情一樣，答案是復雜的。與我交談過的傳染病專家告訴我，有兩個原因說明檢測可能沒有很大幫助。第一個問題是這些天你要花多長時間才能把你的檢測結(jié)果拿回來——在某些地方，PCR檢測需要一周甚至更長時間。當你得到結(jié)果的時候，你可能已經(jīng)在不知不覺中接觸到了病毒，使得最初的測試變得無關(guān)緊要。

The next big reason has to do with accuracy. While the PCR test is highly accurate in a laboratory setting, out in the real world it can produce some false positives and a lot of false negatives. In fact studies show a negative diagnostic test result can be wrong between 5% and 40% of the time, depending on the circumstances.

下一個重要原因與準確性有關(guān)。雖然PCR測試在實驗室環(huán)境下是高度準確的，但在現(xiàn)實世界中，它可能會產(chǎn)生一些假陽性和大量假陰性。事實上，研究表明，根據(jù)具體情況，陰性診斷測試結(jié)果出錯的幾率在5%到40%之間。

Wait, up to 40% false negative sounds like a lot — is there anything I can do to ensure my results are more reliable?

等等，高達40%的假陰性聽起來很多——我能做什么來確保我的結(jié)果更可靠?

Yes, there are some things you can do. But first remember this, for many of us that false negative rate could be much lower than 40%, says Green, who was a coauthor on one of the studies about test reliability. He points out that many of the people in his study were sampled too early, before the diagnostic test could detect the presence of the virus.

是的，有些事你可以做。但首先要記住這一點，對我們很多人來說，假陰性率可能遠低于40%，格林說，他是其中一項關(guān)于測試可靠性的研究的合著者。他指出,在他的研究中,許多人在診斷測試可以檢測到病毒的存在之前已經(jīng)過早地取樣了。

So if you want to make sure your test is as reliable as possible, self-quarantine to avoid further exposures.

因此，如果你想確保你的測試是盡可能可靠的，自我隔離以避免進一步接觸病毒。