Comment by SwellJoe | Hacker News Reader

Comment by SwellJoe | Hacker News Reader

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Is it? I don't know the mechanics. How about genetic testing, is that also a chemical process that is unique for each marker? Seems like a genetic sequencing tool could be programmable once the DNA/RNA has been analyzed. The best HIV test available is an RNA test, which can provide results as early as six days after exposure. This is obviously not my area of expertise, so I don't know how realistic it would be to downsize such a thing.

Also, how does this device perform a test for a viral infection and for a bacterial infection, if the tests are unique and chemical? Does it use a particular substance for each test, which has to be refilled per use? (Again, I have no idea how this stuff works.)

I know that 23andme continues to produce new information about my genes as new studies are done to find genetic markers for various diseases and traits, which is pretty cool. If there were a device that detected viral and bacterial RNA/DNA, would that be software extensible?

Yes, the tests are unique and chemical. You either need bespoke antigens that will react to the presence of specific pathogens, or primers and other components for DNA/RNA based tests.

Beyond that, these testing systems probably can't manage the sensitivity and specificity of a properly run diagnostic lab. That's fine for the setting they're being considered in, because those labs don't exist, are hard to reach or can be easily overwhelmed in an outbreak, but for a developed world setting? I don't really see it. Home diagnostics for infectious diseases over a broad range of potential pathogens is a really hard technical challenge with no real payoff - you still need to go to the doctor.

If you have accurate test results that show you need medicine and can obtain it without a gatekeeper then you don't "need" to go to a doctor. That's one hell of a payoff.

Yeah, there's no way you're getting prescription antibiotics or antivirals without seeing a doctor because "My iPhone says I have pertussis".

Lab results alone do not a medically responsible treatment plan make.

This is the exact reason that free STD testing clinics DO NOT discuss symptoms with you, and with a positive test immediately refer you to an MD. A testing environment is not treatment or management.

Its unclear who "you" means, most people on earth can actually buy antibiotics without this. Also unsure as to how you define what is "responsible" for them.

The post at the top of this chain makes it abundantly clear we're talking about the United States.

And, as an epidemiologist, the ready availability of antibiotics without any interaction with a doctor is something I'd be pretty comfortable classifying as inherently irresponsible.

Did you read the article?

Quote from the article:

"Blood from a patient is drawn through microscopic channels where it then meets chemicals that react with HIV and syphilis antibodies to produce a color change. This can then be picked up by a set of photocells in the dongle, and the results are then sent to an app on the attached smartphone or computer."

Huh...I'd read the earlier article and didn't remember seeing that explanation. I didn't read this variant of the article, as I assumed the one I saw earlier was the more authoritative source, but, perhaps this is just a better article.

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