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Antigen tests, in addition to PCR tests, will be used to determine SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection. They will help, among other things, in faster diagnosis of patients at HEDs, hospitals and other health care facilities.
- The testing strategy is changing in Poland just like in other European Union countries
- Some experts consider it a minus the fact that they are not as sensitive as PCR tests, which can catch even trace amounts of SARS-CoV-2 virus
- For other experts, the lower sensitivity of antigen tests is an advantage. Why? Because there are infected people with a positive PCR test result, who no longer transmit the virus to others
- More current information about the epidemic in Poland can be found on the TvoiLokony home page
Health Minister Adam Niedzielski announced that antigen tests will be the same basis for determining SARS-CoV-2 infection as PCR tests.
«We assume that antigen tests performed for a symptomatic patient are the same basis for determining a coronavirus as PCR tests. We want to introduce testing with antigen tests on a larger scale. We are considering introducing this to emergency departments and emergency rooms (…). We also want to use it for overnight medical assistance. This is a very important change that will allow for quick testing without the need to confirm with a PCR test »- explained the minister on Twitter.
As Niedzielski recalled, “so far, even after using the antigen test, a PCR test had to be performed anyway”.
The testing strategy is changing in Poland just like in other European Union countries. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, presented a recommendation on the European vaccination strategy on October 28, which will include the performance of rapid antigen tests.
The EC announced that it will provide as much as EUR 100 million for the purchase of rapid antigen tests, which it will transfer to member states.
“Thanks to rapid antigen tests, we will be able to quickly distinguish a patient infected with coronavirus in hospitals from patients who are not infected” – said Prof. Andrzej Horban from the Government Medical Council for Epidemiology.
They do not require highly specialized equipment. The whole test looks for viral proteins that stimulate the body to produce antibodies against the virus.
The swab is taken from the nasopharynx, then the sample with the swab is mixed with a solution that “breaks down” the virus, releasing its proteins. The mixture hits a strip which, in the case of a positive result, manifests this fact with a fluorescent glow. You can wait several to several dozen minutes for the result. They are also cheaper than PCR tests.
The downside of the tests is that they are not as sensitive as PCR tests, because the latter can capture even trace amounts of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Some specialists are even concerned that antigen tests will miss some people who are infected.
This was commented on by dr hab. n. med. Tomasz Dzieciatkowski, a virologist from the Medical University of Warsaw, who admitted that allowing antigen tests to count COVID-24 cases will increase the number of detected infections. “It seems to me that it may be even a two-fold increase, it may be about 19-40 thousand people” – he noted.
«If anyone thinks that this is a XNUMX% effective diagnostic or therapeutic method, let me see it. I, as a laboratory diagnostician, have not come across anything like that ”. I added that if the antigen test shows the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it means that it is the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but if it does not, you cannot be XNUMX% sure that it does not exist – explained Dzieścitkowski.
For other experts, on the other hand, the lower sensitivity of antigen tests is an advantage. Why? Because there are infected people with a positive PCR test result, who no longer transmit the virus to others. Which means antigen testing would focus on the most infectious people with high levels of the virus. This is important as it would allow them to be quickly isolated.
The advantage of antigen tests is also the fact that they do not have to be time-consumingly processed in laboratories.
Watch out for new COVID-19 symptoms!
In the context of testing, it is important to know that there are new symptoms that should worry us.
Are you infected with the coronavirus or someone close to you has COVID-19? Or maybe you work in the health service? Would you like to share your story or report any irregularities that you have witnessed or affected? Write to us at: [email protected]. We guarantee anonymity!
Until now, it has been said that the triad typical of COVID-19 symptoms is typical: a fever above 38 degrees, a dry and ineffective cough, and a feeling of breathlessness. Then there are neurological disorders, i.e. loss of smell and taste. For some time now, patients infected with the coronavirus have reported others, which include devastating headaches, muscle and joint pain.
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