Valerie Bevan looks at how microbiology testing networks have changed over the past 80 years, and how reflecting on this, and lessons from the current pandemic, might inform our response to future epidemics/pandemics.
Dr Valerie Bevan is chair of the British Society for Microbial Technology (BSMT), the Annual Scientific Conference of which has been postponed until May 2021. However, the article below is written in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the BSMT. The views expressed are hers alone and are in no way critical of the hundreds of laboratory staff who are working extremely hard to deliver a good service to the NHS and communities.
Setting the scene
A neighbour has a poster on his wall saying 'Science is true, whether you believe it or not'. Unfortunately, there is a problem with this statement whether scientists and politicians like it or not: science is not 'true' and there is plenty in the literature to point this out. As in many other fields of expertise, parameters may be changed and results and conclusions need to be interpreted – different scientific experts interpret science differently. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, after the science experts have given their advice, politicians need to interpret this advice to serve the population as best they can. Although our government says its approach to dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is to follow the advice of scientists, one wonders which scientific advice they followed and what course of action might have been better than the one the UK has followed.
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