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REVIEW OF EMERGING RESEARCH

The Functional Medicine Approach to COVID-19:

Primer on SARS-CoV-2 Testing
Messier H , Evans JM , Hanaway PJ 3
2
1
1 Medical Intelligence Learning Lab, Inc (MILLI), San Jose, CA
2 The Center for Functional Medicine, Stamford, CT
3 The Institute for Functional Medicine COVID-19 Task Force, Federal Way, WA

Abstract
The ability to accurately identify whether individuals testing for the presence of viral RNA (a surrogate for
are at risk for, infected with, or have an immune response infection) and the presence of antibodies (a proxy for
to SARS-CoV-2 is essential to address the COVID-19 immunity) to gather data to protect both individual and
pandemic from both a personal, clinical and a public public health. We define the limitations and the practical
health perspective. We investigate the clinical value of clinical application of viral and serologic testing.

Introduction • Assessing whether an individual is contagious and
The ability to accurately identify whether individuals needs to be quarantined.
are at risk for, infected with, or have an immune response • Deciding if an individual is immune and can return
to SARS-CoV-2 is essential to address the COVID-19 to society without undue risk.
pandemic from both a personal and a public health • Facilitating contact tracing to reduce viral spread.
perspective. Reliable testing is critical for: • Determining the prevalence and natural history of
this novel disease.
• Determining the state of an individual’s immune
response to exposure. Widespread testing is crucial for informed public policy
decisions. 1

44 Integrative Medicine • Vol. 19, No. S1 • Epub Ahead of Print Messier—Primer on SARS-CoV-2 Testing