Suspicion mounts over scant tests for virus variants in eastern Idaho
Local doctors treating COVID-19 patients in eastern Idaho are growing increasingly concerned that Idaho’s sparse testing concerning coronavirus variants means officials simply don’t know if variants are spreading here.
The state health department and therefore the local health district say no concerning variants are spotted in eastern Idaho, where regional officials halted restrictions shortly before Idaho Falls became the nation’s worst coronavirus hotspot.
But four frontline doctors told the Post Register in the week that they were skeptical of official reports. This means that few virus samples are sent to the state from eastern Idaho labs — until this past week when shipments rose to account for surging caseloads.
“I think all meaning we don’t have a damn clue what’s happening,” said Dr. Kenneth Krell, who directs the medical care unit at Eastern Idaho Regional center.
“We’re favorite for cases within us,” communicable disease doctor Richard Nathan said of Idaho Falls. “It would be nice to possess some information about why.”
Their suspicions that not much is understood about the local presence of concerning variants aren’t just speculation.
Lori Leask, lab director at Express Lab in Idaho Falls, is seeing more test samples with odd properties — deleted “s” proteins — which experts say indicate the virus has mutated. Whether sequencing shows a “variant of concern” — a more dangerous quite COVID-19 — may be a different question that only sequencing can answer, Leask said.
To her et al., it’s a touch that the Eastern Idaho Public Health board’s move to finish mask mandates won't be the sole reason that coronavirus infection reports swelled across the region.
“I think it caught tons of individuals all of sudden, including us. We thought (lifting mandates) could be a little spike,” Leask said. Demand has doubled for drive-thru tests in Idaho Falls, she said. And, she said, people are coming with symptoms.
Viruses mutate as they spread. Not all mutations are inherently concerning. But some may make the virus more contagious, deadlier, or maybe immune to things thought to supply some level of immunity, including both past infections and full vaccinations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention monitors a couple of variants it deems concerning, which include two found in California, one found in South Africa, one found in Brazil, and one found within the UK. In January, the CDC warned that the U.K. variant — now believed to be both more infectious and more deadly — would become the dominant strain within the U.S. by March.
Idaho state lab reports said Saturday that 34 instances of three variants are found thus far in Idaho: 19 of the U.K. variant, two of the South Africa variant, and one among the California variant. Those were found by sequencing 390 virus samples.
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Limited genetic sequencing has been a drag for the whole country, local doctors note. The U.S. ranks 43rd compared to other countries in its sequencing capabilities, consistent with the Washington Post.
Idaho’s head of the Bureau of Laboratories, Dr. Christopher Ball, said the state’s program is in its early stages and hopes to build up soon.
“We have just begun our statewide surveillance program and only (a) fraction of positive cases are sequenced so far, so we can’t yet address whether we are seeing a rise in invariants of concern,” Ball wrote Tuesday during a memo to an area doctor. “However, we all know that these variants are increasing nationwide and that we presume they're increasing here also .”
“We’re definitely learning the pace, and that I would expect that within subsequent few weeks, we’ll see more and more sequences being available,” Ball said during a video interview Friday morning. He added that the state is “in the method of doubling our sequencing capacity through” new federal funding.
Ball said eastern Idaho test sites have since begun sending more virus samples to the state. Express Lab was among those sending the foremost, Ball said.
In the Tuesday memo, Ball said the state had received 34 samples from eastern Idaho at the time. He told the Post Register on Friday that the amount had grown significantly but couldn't provide accurate numbers because some samples aren't high enough quality to the sequence.
Express Lab sent 20 samples to the state for genetic sequencing in the week, consistent with Leask. The lab had sent 10 total samples before in the week.
Some doctors are willing to back which variant, if any, is grasping in eastern Idaho. Krell suspects it’s the U.K. variant. So does Dr. David Pate, who has advised state leaders on COVID-19 response measures.
“They say we don’t have any yet,” said Dr. Jared Morton, who practices general medicine in Idaho Falls. “I find that tough to believe.”
At Idaho Falls Community Hospital, Morton is taking care of patients who had the virus six to nine months ago. They’re reinfected. People in their 30s, 40s, and 50s are lying in hospital beds there and across the road, at EIRMC.
The region’s ICU beds have filled quickly, hitting 90% use rates in the week. One recent week, Morton saw his share of COVID-19 patients jump from two to 10 to 18.
Morton said there’s probably one among two explanations for eastern Idaho’s spike.
“It’s highly suggestive ... that we've some kind of variant,” he said, “or it's absolute proof that masks work and masks and that they work amazingly work well. and therefore the lack of using masks and doing what we’re alleged to be doing then is that the only explanation for this. That seems short-sided at the best .”
Reporter Kyle Pfannenstiel is often reached at 208-542-6754. Follow him on Twitter: @pfannyyy. he's a corps member with Report for America, a service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
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