CSTE National ELR Workgroup

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SARS-CoV-2 Variant Reporting

Hello,
On the weekly extended ELR call discussing variant reporting, getting GISAID IDs, info back from CDC, etc. I suggested we have a call about this. I think it would be good to include some of the epi staff who work with the info in our states (not all of us on those calls do both capture of info and the epi follow up in GISAID etc.)

Suggestions for when/where to have this call? I'm thinking an hour would be needed so we either 'take over' one of the weekly ELR calls, or set up a separate call or....

Agenda items welcome - from what I heard here are some topic ideas.

1. What labs are doing sequencing and how they report -- Vanessa Holley is setting up a spreadsheet for states to put that information and will share shortly (thanks CA and MA for giving lists to Vanessa as start). Are there any other things we need to know about how each of these reporters are sending this info? How do ensure the original positive PCR result was sent?

2. GISAID IDs - are we getting them? How to get from CDC? Lookups in GISAID to find an ID. What happens with discrepancies.

I'm sure there are other items - please add.
Let me know what you think and what would be helpful.

thanks all!

Comments & Events

Amanda Jones turned on public link sharing for this message on
Chris Baumgartner, Senior Data Exchange Manager
Hi - I concur we need at least 1 hour. I am fine with taking over the monthly ELR CSTE call or to set up a separate meeting. My only concern is the next meeting is in 4 business days and may not be enough time to prepare and ensure the right staff can attend.

Sincerely,

Chris Baumgartner
Senior Data Exchange Manager
Office of Public Health Outbreak Coordination, Informatics, and Surveillance (PHOCIS)
Division of Disease Control and Health Statistics
Washington State Department of Health
chris.baumgartner@doh.wa.gov<mailto:chris.baumgartner@doh.wa.gov>
206-418-5530 | www.doh.wa.gov<http://www.doh.wa.gov/>
[cid:image001.png@01D7CC99.301CDEE0]<https://www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom/SocialMedia>

P.S. I sometimes work flexible hours, so while it suits me to email now, I don't expect a response or action outside of your own working hours.

"This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential or privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy the message."
Riki Merrick, Terminologist at APHL
I would prefer to use an existing call (given what my calendar looks) - and on behalf of Vanessa I am offering up the Open ELR call on Thursday (might loose 5 minutes for AIMS+ updates, but otherwise I think we ould plan on ths topic)
Riki
Carmen Pugh, Labcorp Manager State Reporting at LabCorp
I will be out of the office from Nov 1-9 so any meetings about variants scheduled during this time, will not be attended by me.  If anyone needs information on Labcorp's reporting of Variants, I won't be available to respond till Nov. 10 or later.  If anyone has any specific questions regarding Labcorp's Variant Reporting, please email me and I will respond as I am able.  I believe the majority of states are processing our files without issue as I have not received any questions or concerns.  Just wanted to apprise everyone of my not being available for the next week and a half.
Thanks,
Carmen Pugh
Labcorp State Reporting
Tamara Hennessy Burt
California is definitely interested in participating in this discussion!
Amanda Jones
Hello! I heard discussion of this moving to an extended ELR call. Do we have a date and time and any other meeting details for this available yet? Want to make sure the CDC folks get it on their calendar.

Thank you!
Nancy Barrett, Epi 4/PH Informatics Specialist
Hi all - Have we gotten agreement on this and an agenda? Please add your comments here:

Agenda - Update on Reporting of Variant Sequencing results
1. Overview - 
a) Slide of variants in US - any changes in variants of concern?
2. Testing
a) CDC contracted labs
b) State contracted labs
3. Reporting
a) Main reporting issues in terms of the messages sent/received
4. GISAID and other IDs
a) Two main repositories -- GISAID and NCBI (?)
b) what do these IDs look like?
c) How do we get the ID if not provided by the lab?
d) What type of review should be done to reconcile differences in these IDs and results (WA state analysis).

Anything else?

Nancy
Kathleen Figetakis
Hi Nancy,

Thank you for continuing this discussion. Here's some suggested additions with a little background/details for each.

If any further information I can provide to assist please do not hesitate to contact me.

Under (3) Reporting, may want to consider adding:


1. Standardization of coding system and naming convention for Test results (OBX-5 value)

1. OBX 5.1
* Standard for PLR codes (or other coding system) that may be used in OBX 5.1.

i. Where is the centralized location that all other labs may use to access this code list?

ii. What is the mechanism for informing all other labs when updates occur to those codes?

1. OBX 5.2
* Standards for naming convention for test itself in OBX 5.2 would improve data consistency

i. Inconsistent naming conventions. Some examples below.

* SARS-CoV-2 B.1.526 lineage
* SARS-CoV-2-B.1.526 lineage
* SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.526 lineage

Under (4) GISAID and other IDS, may want to consider adding:


1. Issues retrieving results from repository based on sequencing ID provided by lab in ELR
* NTE?

i. HL7 messages currently do not specify which repository was used. What is the recommended location for repository name to be specified?

* OBX 5

i. Lab assigned Sequence ID - LOINC 98062-3

* Does the HL7 result message include the lab assigned sequencing ID reported to the repository?
* Is that sequencing ID uniquely identified with the LOINC 98062-3 in an OBX including both the 98062-3 LOINC value and lab assigned ID value?
* Can CDC / data repositories provide consistent explanation of the relationship of the repository assigned sequence ID to the lab assigned sequence ID?
* For example, for some labs, the GISAID repository appears to add a set character string prior to the lab assigned sequencing ID
* What other transformations are performed by the repository to generate the repository sequence ID form the lab assigned sequence ID?



Thank you,
Kathleen Figetakis
Nancy Barrett, Epi 4/PH Informatics Specialist
Thanks Kathleen!

Also - what effort at the state side would it take to capture these additional IDs and transform them?
Karla Norsworthy
Thanks for pulling a detailed list together.  We would really like to talk about a plan to update the guidance so that we can give something clear to facilities that are working on reporting.  I think the question that is causing the most angst is the question of what the sequencing study identifier should contain.  We have facilities that are ready to begin reporting - but we want to be sure we give clear instructions on what to put in that field.

One more thing to add to the agenda is whether facilities are really required to report the sequencing results.  (We are requiring those that we fund to do sequencing to report them - but I'm not sure that there is a broad set of guidance requiring consistent reporting.)
Nancy Barrett, Epi 4/PH Informatics Specialist
Hi all - Suggestion to try to schedule this call on Dec 2 (Thursday) or as a topic on our December 7 monthly ELR call. Seems like a lot of pieces to discuss for this one so want to have dedicated time and a chance to get all of the relevant players invited. Also be able to invite epis in our states working on variants so they hear the conversation as well.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!
Nancy
Chris Baumgartner, Senior Data Exchange Manager
If we don't have an agenda really for Dec I vote for our regular meeting to try and avoid needing an additional one.

Sincerely,

Chris Baumgartner
Senior Data Exchange Manager
Office of Public Health Outbreak Coordination, Informatics, and Surveillance (PHOCIS)
Division of Disease Control and Health Statistics
Washington State Department of Health
chris.baumgartner@doh.wa.gov<mailto:chris.baumgartner@doh.wa.gov>
206-418-5530 | www.doh.wa.gov<http://www.doh.wa.gov/>
[cid:image001.png@01D7DAE2.BF978000]<https://www.doh.wa.gov/Newsroom/SocialMedia>

P.S. I sometimes work flexible hours, so while it suits me to email now, I don't expect a response or action outside of your own working hours.

"This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential or privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy the message."