WSLH Communicable Disease Division scientists developed a quantitative RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 as part of a CDC-led study looking at the effectiveness in real-world conditions of the mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The results of the study were published in the June 30th New England Journal of Medicine.

The study, which ran from December 14, 2020 to April 10, 2021, involved 3,975 health care personnel, first responders, and other essential and frontline workers from Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas and Utah. Study participants submitted nasal swab specimens on a weekly basis that were tested at the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute (qualitative RT-PCR testing) and the WSLH (quantitative RT-PCR testing to measure viral load, which is the amount of virus in the body).

Out of the 3,975 study participants, SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 204 participants – 5 of whom were fully vaccinated, 11 partially vaccinated and 156 unvaccinated. The adjusted vaccine effectiveness was 91% with full vaccination and 81% with partial vaccination.

“This research shows the real-world effectiveness of the vaccines, not just effectiveness in a controlled clinical study,” said WSLH Communicable Disease Division Director Dr. Al Bateman. “The research also showed that for the small number of vaccinated people who become infected, they are still somewhat protected as they have lower viral loads, are less sick, and are sick for a shorter duration of time.”

Based on the WSLH’s long-standing experience and relationship with CDC on influenza testing and surveillance, CDC asked Bateman and WSLH Virology Team Lead Erik Reisdorf to develop a quantitative RT-PCR test method that could measure viral loads for this project. The WSLH testing was performed by Microbiologists Erika Hanson and Kyley Guenther.

“This research also builds on our years-long collaboration with Marshfield Clinic Research Institute,” Bateman said. “To have a major national study utilize two Wisconsin laboratories says a lot about the scientific expertise we have in our state.”

Heather Barkholtz, PhD, joined the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Pharmacy in a joint faculty position. Dr. Barkholtz will be an assistant professor in the UW School of Pharmacy’s Pharmaceutical Sciences Division working with the WSLH Forensic Toxicology section.

Her position will enhance collaboration between the WSLH and the School of Pharmacy to advance innovation in opioid and drug abuse surveillance and foster translational research, teaching, and outreach that support public health surveillance and testing.

Learn more about Dr. Barkholtz and her goals for her new position

Please note the following changes to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s operations for the weekend of July 4th. The WSLH will be closed on Monday, July 5th, in observance of the holiday.

As always, if you have an off-hours emergency, please call the WSLH Emergency Pager at 608-263-3280.

 

If you recently received a letter from the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Chemical Emergency Response Unit asking you to take a survey about our brodifacoum testing services, please follow this link to the survey — https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_513rPVMWAeMsFUN

The survey will close on July 31, 2021. Thank you.

Peter Shult, emeritus director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Communicable Disease Division, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) in a May 19^th virtual ceremony.

The APHL Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals with a history of distinguished service to APHL and who made significant contributions to the advancement of public health laboratory science and/or practice and exhibited leadership in the field of public health and/or influenced public health policy on a national or global level.

“I am deeply honored and appreciative of this award,” Shult said. “However, in my mind, I share this recognition with many individuals, including my Directors (3 in total) over the years who unfailingly mentored, enabled and supported my efforts, my WSLH staff and colleagues who made everything happen and my many collaborators at APHL, CDC and UW-Madison who shared a common vision. This award is all of ours and I thank you all.”

Shult, who retired in early 2021, dedicated his 32 year career to serving the public’s health, public health laboratories and the public health system. A national leader in infectious disease laboratory surveillance, Shult helped lead the APHL/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborative Influenza Surveillance Workgroup, which was responsible for developing a novel approach to strengthen influenza surveillance in the United States.

In the mid-1990s, he developed the innovative Wisconsin Clinical Laboratory Network (WCLN), one of the first laboratory-based surveillance networks in the United States that serves as a model for public health laboratories across the country.

The true value of the WCLN was demonstrated in the coordinated response of the laboratory network to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the pandemic’s first months, the 130+ WCLN laboratories looked to the WSLH for information and guidance and supported SARS-CoV-2 testing at the WSLH.  As commercial tests received FDA Emergency Use Authorization, the WSLH supported the clinical laboratories in bringing on testing by providing guidance and validation panels. This allowed for more rapid testing closer to the patient and quickly increased testing capacity within the state.

Shult has also contributed significantly to the library of public health knowledge. During his career he has authored or co-authored more than 50 peer reviewed journal articles. Since 1998, he has been a clinical professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, teaching courses on emerging infectious diseases as well as vaccines in a global society. Many of his students have gone on to careers in the field of public health.

APHL says this award “… is not a retirement award, but a true Lifetime Achievement Award.” Shult’s true lifetime impact is best summed up by his nominators –

“His passion, dedication and commitment to the field of public health have made a lasting impact on the lives of those who know him or work with him, but also countless others he has never met. This truly defines the achievement of one who has given his all for others, not for himself, but for humanity; for the public’s health.”

More about Shult’s accomplishments and his Lifetime Achievement Award

More about all of APHL’s 2021 award winners

 

 

Please note the following changes to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s operations due to the observance of the Memorial Day holiday.

The table below lists the hours of operations for our Clinical Specimen Receiving departments. We will have staffing to accept clinical specimens at both our 2601 Agriculture Drive and our 465 Henry Mall facilities on Saturday, May 29th.

As always, if you have an off-hours emergency, please call the WSLH Emergency Pager at 608-263-3280.

 

Alana Sterkel, PhD, D(ABMM), SM(ASCP)^CM has been promoted to Associate Director of the WSLH Communicable Disease Division (CDD) and appointed Assistant Professor (CHS) in the University of Wisconsin Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Sterkel has served as a Co-Assistant Director for CDD since 2017.

Dr. Sterkel received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her doctoral research focused on subversion of innate immunity by Blastomyces dermatitidis. Following completion of her PhD, Dr. Sterkel was awarded the Clinical Microbiology Fellowship through the UW Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine with a research focus on clinical infections.

After joining the WSLH, Dr. Sterkel has continued her research, which focuses on host-pathogen interactions and investigating clinical data to answer public heath related research questions. An active project in her lab is to investigate the impact of pollution on the immune response to respiratory infections.

In addition, she teaches courses at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and developed an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited training rotation for UW infectious disease fellows and pathology residents. Dr. Sterkel also presents scientific talks on the local, regional, state, and national levels, and has published more than 20 peer-reviewed publications.

She is a Diplomat of the American Board of Medical Microbiology and serves as a peer-reviewer for the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, and the Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease Journal.

The WisCon Onsite Safety and Health Consultation program at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene helps 300+ small businesses a year provide safe and healthy workplaces for their employees and meet federal OSHA requirements – all for free.

During the pandemic, WisCon expanded its consulting and training services to also include a focus on COVID-19 prevention and control. They also are providing COVID-19 Respiratory Protection Program Administrator Training to support the thousands of skilled nursing and residential care facilities in the state.

Learn more about how WisCon helps small businesses and their employees

In early March 2020, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene was one of only two labs in Wisconsin providing SARS-CoV-2 testing.

But drawing on its decades-long tradition of working closely with clinical labs in the state, the WSLH and the 100+ members of the Wisconsin Clinical Laboratory Network were able to dramatically expand testing capacity.

Learn more about the history of the WSLH-WCLN partnership and how vital it is to the health of the people of Wisconsin.

 

Responsibility.org and the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Forensic Toxicology Section have launched the National Resource Toxicologist Pilot Program.

The program is a multi-year (2020-2022) national assessment of forensic toxicology laboratories to identify challenges, successes, gaps, and funding issues related to impaired driving (drugs and alcohol) testing and data. To launch the program, Responsibility.org is providing a three-year, $150,000 grant to the WSLH – Forensic Toxicology Section.

Increasing numbers of impaired drivers are multi-substance impaired, meaning they have both drugs and alcohol in their system. However, due to resource constraints many forensic toxicology laboratories are not able to test for a full range of drugs as well as alcohol. This gives an incomplete picture of the scope of impaired driving in the United States.

Plus, in areas where impaired driving test results are also used by the judicial system and/or public health to determine whether/where impaired drivers should go to treatment, not knowing the full extent of what substances the driver was using means decision makers don’t have all the information they need to best assess and assist the driver.

Impaired driving is a systemic multi-factor problem, and toxicology laboratories are key potential sources of data to better understand the full extent of the problem in order to increase public safety and decrease tragedies resulting from impaired driving. To better understand the full extent, additional research is needed to assess the financial and operational challenges that toxicology labs face in testing for substances.

In partnership with the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, WSLH Forensic Toxicology Section Director Amy Miles will conduct a national assessment of state toxicology laboratories to improve the quality of data and foster communication with stakeholders such as state highway safety offices, law enforcement, attorneys and judges to gauge the needs of laboratories.

Learn More

National Resource Toxicologist Pilot Program Fact Sheet

News release