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In a significant advancement for public health screening, researchers have developed an optimized approach to pooled testing, making large-scale disease testing faster and more affordable. This innovation could transform how health systems detect and manage infectious diseases.
The research, conducted by Dr. Md S. Warasi, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at Radford University in Virginia, and Dr. Kumer P. Das, Assistant Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, demonstrates that by strategically grouping specimens in pools, testing costs can be significantly reduced without compromising accuracy. This breakthrough is crucial as health systems face high demand for screening diseases such as HIV, gonorrhea, and COVID-19.
Their findings were published in a study titled “Optimizing Disease Surveillance Through Pooled Testing with Application to Infectious Diseases” in the Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics. The study evaluates the benefits of using pooled testing for infectious disease detection, particularly when prevalence rates are low.
Traditional individual testing methods are resource-intensive, especially for large-scale screenings. Pooled testing, on the other hand, allows multiple specimens to be tested together, reducing both cost and time. This method is particularly beneficial for early screenings or monitoring outbreaks of diseases like HIV and chlamydia, where disease prevalence is generally low.
Warasi and Das developed a framework to determine the ideal pool size for various infectious diseases, balancing cost and testing efficiency. Using data from the Louisiana Department of Health on diseases such as HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and SARS-CoV-2, their research showed that tailoring pool sizes to specific infection prevalence rates allows public health agencies to achieve significant savings while maintaining accurate prevalence estimates.
“Our findings suggest that careful design and optimization of pooled testing can yield substantial benefits for disease surveillance efforts, particularly in resource-limited settings,” said Warasi. The study also offers a new software package and user-friendly application to help health departments and researchers implement these optimized testing protocols.
“The ability to efficiently detect and monitor infectious diseases is crucial for timely interventions. By refining how pooled testing is conducted, we hope to empower health departments worldwide to improve their screening processes and respond faster to potential outbreaks,” added Das.
The software tools developed in this study are now available for download, providing practical solutions for public health officials and researchers globally.
For more information, see the original study: Md S. Warasi et al., Optimizing Disease Surveillance Through Pooled Testing with Application to Infectious Diseases, Journal of Agricultural, Biological, and Environmental Statistics (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s13253-024-00646-6.
For further details or to access the software tools, visit the .
