Brentwood-based Diatherix has begun offering a private test for the swine flu virus. For $250, often covered by a patient’s insurance, hospitals can get confirmation of swine flu in just six hours.
Dr. Jian Han designed the test and confirmed its accuracy using samples from the Centers for Disease Control. His lab is in Huntsville, Alabama at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. Han has completed more than 100 tests so far and expects the work load to pile up in the coming weeks.
“Local hospital may come directly to us, and the state lab overflow may want to come directly to us as well. They’re just overwhelmed with this volume.”
Tennessee health officials say they wouldn’t use a private lab. The CDC only recognizes tests conducted using the kits it developed and distributed to state-level laboratories.
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