Lab Matters Fall 2024 | Page 117

APHL 2024 POSTER ABSTRACTS with minimal temperature cycling over a long period of time once calibrated .

Conclusions : Incubator C was most consistent in temperature maintenance with little temperature cycling . The lock on the incubator makes transport easier especially with the capacity of a battery pack . Incubator B is suitable for a long-term placement in a smaller clinic with stable ambient temperature . The temperature adjustment could be challenging due to the sensitivity of the adjustment screw . We will start to pilot transport of incubator C with our internal clinic before introducing it to clinics across the state . This will help us improve shipping logistics and time lines .

Presenter : Suzanna Budiono , sbudio @ milwaukee . gov

Support for COVID-19 Testing to Reopen and Keep Schools Operating Safely

K . Kines 1 , J . Pompey 1 , S . Cruise 2 , B . Ruth 2 , T . Guffey 2 , C . Gabriel 2 , J . Moore 1 , A . Raziano 1 , M . Honein 1 , Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1 , Guidehouse LLC 2

Background : In April 2021 , the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases ( ELC ) Cooperative Agreement awarded $ 10 billion to 64 recipients under the ELC Reopening Schools award . Funds were initially awarded to public health departments to support the implementation of COVID-19 screening testing in K-12 schools . The guidance was later expanded to allow more flexibility with testing approaches and mitigation strategies , including allowances for overthe-counter ( OTC ) antigen tests to send home with students and staff . Recipients were required to submit testing implementation plans and report test volume data for polymerase chain reaction ( PCR ), point-of-care ( POC ) antigen and OTC antigen tests . In January 2022 around the peak of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron wave , CDC was asked to distribute millions of rapid antigen tests directly to schools and school districts to help keep K-12 schools open . ELC helped coordinate this effort by working with recipient school testing program leads and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness & Response to develop and maintain test request and distribution processes .

Challenges : Quickly establishing K-12 school-based infectious disease testing programs was challenging for many recipients and often required initiating new partnerships with state and local education authorities , commercial testing vendors and test manufacturers . In implementation plans submitted to ELC , 59 % of recipients reported that lack of parental support was the primary barrier to implementing screening testing in schools , followed by lack of government or political will ( 21 %) and COVID-19 fatigue ( 20 %). During the peak of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron wave , recipients listed staffing ( 52 %) and test supply shortages ( 51 %) as major barriers to continuing school screening testing .

Results : From April 2021 to July 2023 , recipients reported that over 150 million tests had been conducted or distributed by schools and school districts within their jurisdictions . For the first half , PCR was the predominant test type reported . However , starting in August 2022 , OTC antigen tests were the most common test type reported . Through the free rapid antigen test distribution program from January 2022 to July 2023 , over 81 million tests were allocated to K-12 schools and school districts . OTC antigen tests were the primary test type requested .

Conclusions : Despite the challenges associated with implementing school testing in K-12 schools , ELC recipients provided millions of tests to support in-person learning for students within their jurisdictions . When surveyed in May 2023 , over 86 % of responding recipients strongly agreed or agreed that ELC Reopening Schools funds contributed to preventing outbreaks of COVID-19 in schools , to healthier physical learning environments in schools and to more in-person learning opportunities for students .

Presenter : Kristine Kines , lxu2 @ cdc . gov

QUALITY LABORATORY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Assessing the Status of Advanced Molecular Detection ( AMD ) in Clinical Laboratories in New Jersey

S . Mikorski 1 , R . Siderits 1 , T . Frez 1 , J . Guthrie 1 , D . Wasilewski 1 , E . Bui 2 , H . Schrader 2 , A . Rimmer 1 , J . Mikita 1 , D . Woell 1 , A . Oyelade 1 , E . Acheampong 1 , F . Nindo 1 , N . Palmateer 1 , T . Kirn 1 , New Jersey Department of Health , Public Health and Environmental Laboratories 1 , Association for Public Health Laboratories 2

A survey of clinical laboratories in New Jersey was conducted to determine the current state of molecular testing for reportable diseases in highly complex , CLIA-certified , New Jersey-licensed clinical laboratories located in hospitals and commercial sites . Information regarding these laboratories will be used to improve inter-laboratory communications and operations regarding specimen collection , handling and shipping for routine and emergency response , to maintain and update the Public Health and Environmental Laboratories ( PHEL ) electronic test ordering and reporting ( ETOR ) customer databases , to solicit clinical laboratory participation in surveillance studies and for training .

Findings indicate that clinical microbiology laboratory services continue to consolidate , with 38 clinical microbiology laboratories now serving 72 acute care hospitals , 40 clinics and other healthcare providers in the state . Eighty-seven percent ( 87 %) of the reporting laboratories use molecular methods for testing respiratory pathogens , including SARS-CoV-2 , Influenza and RSV and 47 % use molecular methods for detecting Neisseria gonorrheae and Chlamydia trachomatis . Twenty percent ( 20 %) used molecular testing for other reportable infectious diseases . Most located in hospitals do not offer point-of-care ( POC ) testing inhouse i . e . bedside , Emergency Department or clinic .

Nearly all reporting laboratories ( 87 %) used Cepheid GeneXpert and a frequent number ( 58 %) were using BioFire ® Syndromic Surveillance panels . Surprisingly few laboratories reported performing next generation sequencing ( NGS ), however 50 % were interested in sending specimens to our laboratory for sequencing and about 20 % were interested in sequencing training . We plan to work with interested laboratories to improve surveillance efforts for antimicrobial resistance testing , through a pilot project we call Hospital-Based Advanced Sequencing program ( HBAS ) which is a part of a larger PHEL initiative to promote AMD field testing , called the Distributed Public Health Laboratory Infrastructure