Division of Laboratory Systems, Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Systems, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Division of STD Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
J Clin Microbiol. 2023 Jul 20;61(7):e0318920. doi: 10.1128/jcm.03189-20. Epub 2023 Apr 18.
COVID-19 has brought unprecedented challenges to clinical and public health laboratories. While U.S. laboratories have continued striving to provide quality test results during the pandemic, the uncertainty and lack of supplies became a significant hurdle, hindering day-to-day laboratory operations and the ability to increase testing capacity for both SARS-CoV-2 and non-COVID-19 testing. In addition, long-standing laboratory workforce shortages became apparent, hindering the ability of clinical and public health laboratories to rapidly increase testing. The American Society for Microbiology, the College of American Pathologists, the National Coalition of STD Directors, and the Emerging Infections Network independently conducted surveys in 2020 and early 2021 to assess the capacity of the nation's clinical laboratories to respond to the increase in demand for testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of these surveys highlighted the shortages of crucial supplies for SARS-CoV-2 testing and supplies for other routine laboratory diagnostics, as well as a shortage of trained personnel to perform testing. The conclusions are based on communications, observations, and the survey results of the clinical laboratory, public health, and professional organizations represented here. While the results of each survey considered separately may not be representative of the entire community, when considered together they provide remarkably similar results, further validating the findings and highlighting the importance of laboratory supply chains and the personnel capable of performing these tests for any response to a large-scale public health emergency.
COVID-19 给临床和公共卫生实验室带来了前所未有的挑战。虽然美国的实验室一直在努力在疫情期间提供高质量的检测结果，但由于不确定性和缺乏供应，日常实验室运营和增加 SARS-CoV-2 及非 COVID-19 检测能力的能力受到严重阻碍。此外，长期存在的实验室劳动力短缺问题也变得明显，这阻碍了临床和公共卫生实验室快速增加检测的能力。美国微生物学会、美国病理学家学院、国家性传播疾病主任联盟和新发感染网络在 2020 年和 2021 年初分别进行了调查，以评估美国临床实验室应对 COVID-19 大流行期间检测需求增加的能力。这些调查的结果突出了用于 SARS-CoV-2 检测的关键供应品和其他常规实验室诊断用品的短缺，以及进行检测的训练有素人员的短缺。这些结论是基于临床实验室、公共卫生和专业组织的沟通、观察和调查结果得出的。虽然单独考虑每项调查的结果可能无法代表整个社区，但综合考虑时，它们提供了非常相似的结果，进一步验证了这些发现，并强调了实验室供应链和能够进行这些检测的人员对于应对大规模公共卫生紧急情况的重要性。
