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With less than 5,5 million citizens, Slovakia plans to test all its citizens, as well as those entering its territory for the presence of the coronavirus. Tests are expected to start next week at 5997 specially created points. The national program will run for two weeks. We asked an expert if this was a good strategy to fight the infection wave.
- Sampling points in Slovakia will be established according to the constituency pattern
- The tests will be free and will not apply to children under 10
- Antigen tests are cheap and quick, but those approved by the FDA have been produced so far only for the needs of the USA, says Dr. Wojciech Przybylski, a virologist from UWM
- According to Dr. Przybylski, the lower sensitivity of antigen tests does not have to be their disadvantage
- For more up-to-date information on the coronavirus, please visit the TvoiLokony home page
So far, our southern neighbors have recorded over 28 thousand. cases of infection, and 82 people died. A few days ago, the government announced the introduction of a state of emergency.
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The testing program had been in preparation for three weeks. Sampling points will be set up at the polling stations. About seven people will work in each of them, including policemen, soldiers, local government employees and paramedics. You need to present your ID card for the tests and, just like during the elections, you will be able to join the list in a given district if you are outside of your permanent residence.
In order to avoid queues, sampling will be carried out according to specially developed alphabetical schedules. The tests will be free, but it is not yet known whether they are mandatory. When planning the operation, the government took into account the opinions of pediatricians and exempted children under the age of ten from examinations.
Slovaks will be tested using antigen tests. The local equivalent of the Polish Material Reserves Agency imports 13 million pieces for approx. EUR 4 excluding VAT per piece. The program will start next weekend in poviats where the epidemiological situation is the most difficult.
Prime Minister Igor Matovic assessed that the universal testing program is the only way to stop the epidemic, which will not be ensured by the currently introduced restrictions.
Antigen tests, the so-called cassette tests detecting a specific virus protein, have two main advantages – they are cheap and fast. We do not know exactly what Slovakia has purchased, but we can already say that it has taken the risk, as the test trusted by experts is not yet available in Europe.
– The rush in choosing the type of test to conduct extensive research may be our enemy – says Dr. Maciej Przybylski, virologist from the Chair and Department of Medical Microbiology at the Medical University of Warsaw. – At the moment, there is one specific test approved for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, manufactured by one specific company. It has been tested, approved and recommended by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, it is only available in the US for now.
As Dr. Przybylski emphasizes, antigen tests do not require such extensive research infrastructure as PCR tests. We do not need, for example, cyclers that cost tens of thousands of zlotys. All you need is the basic equipment that each laboratory has at its disposal. A few drops of the sample are added to the cassette and after 10 – 15 min. we have the result. Tests based on the same principle are very popular when it comes to diagnosing infections with influenza viruses or viral diarrhea.
– In the era of a pandemic, more and more companies are involved in the production of antigen tests – says Dr. Przybylski – only that they need to be properly validated. The pharmaceutical industry is now working faster than under normal conditions. What used to be a year or two now takes a month or two. So I hope that the approved tests will arrive soon.
The problem is the relationship between the antigens detected and the degree of infectivity of a person. To infect, we have to “produce” a lot of viruses, and in turn large amounts of them are detected by even a less sensitive method.
— The lower sensitivity of antigen tests does not have to be a disadvantage – says Dr. Przybylski. – This can be treated as an advantage, because we cut off all people who have small amounts of the virus in the body from those who sow the virus, posing a threat to the environment.
According to Dr. Przybylski, it is best to monitor the coronavirus in two stages. First perform an antigen test and when virus antigens are detected, confirm the plausibility of the result with a PCR test.
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– Such action only makes sense in symptomatic patients – emphasizes Dr. Przybylski. – It would actually screen out people who infect the environment and flatten the curve. Before we can act in this way, however, we need to know the exact relationship between a test result and a patient’s symptoms or infectivity, for example.
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