Mythbusting False Positives Webinar
Today, there is a widely shared belief that the rate of non confirming presumptives (NCP’s) “false positives” in food pathogen diagnostics has increased significantly in recent years. This increase has been most closely associated with PCR and real time PCR testing. It has not yet been possible to answer the question definitively, nevertheless, the belief is real, and the limited data that have been analyzed suggest that non confirming presumptive rates are indeed on the rise.
In this presentation Dr. Daniel DeMarco attempts to answer the question as to why. He addresses a number of items that are critical to understanding the issue, including:
• Definitions of important terms, particularly “false positive” and “non confirming presumptive”;
• Uses of the term “presumptive positive”;
• Hypotheses which purport to explain the (supposed) increase in non-confirming presumptives.
This webinar was originally recorded on November 3, 2021.