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Ten hospitals in Warsaw want to send Korean antigen tests to the Ministry of Health. “It is playing with the patient’s health,” said Paweł Rabiej, the vice-president of Warsaw, for TVN24, with whom the institutions agreed on the decision. Prof. dr. hab. n. med. Robert Flisiak: in my opinion, they are useless – he said in an interview for MedTvoiLokony.
- Antigen tests detect the presence of the virus, based on the presence of proteins present in the envelope of the pathogen. The test is performed on material taken from the respiratory tract
- Korean antigen tests purchased in April by the Ministry of Health, which have been sent to hospitals nationwide since September
- Ten hospitals in Warsaw want to send Korean antigen tests to the Ministry of Health. [directors – ed.] believe that they are useless for testing patients and determining their health condition – said Paweł Rabiej
- Prof. Robert Flisiak: from research conducted in the hospital at ul. Wolska in Warsaw, the sensitivity of antigen tests is 40%. This means that out of 10 patients who are infected, six will test negative for this test despite being infected
- The test may also produce a false positive. Prof. Flisiak: it means that if a patient comes to us with another disease – for example, unconscious – but has a false-positive COVID-19 test result, he is immediately transported to the infectious diseases ward
- Prof. Robert Flisiak: in my opinion, the first generation antigen tests purchased by the Ministry of Health are useless. Of course, we have to distinguish them from the new generation of antigen tests that have just appeared and are of a completely different quality
- You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page
Warsaw hospitals want to send back Korean tests. “This is playing with the health of the patient”
“Whatever this test shows, it still has to be confirmed with a normal genetic test. This is an additional stress for patients who come worried about their health. This is playing with the patient’s health. He gets a test, he is terrified that he is positive, then the genetic test shows that he is negative after all – Paweł Rabiej, the vice-president of Warsaw, told TVN24.pl.
These are Korean antigen tests, which were purchased by the Ministry of Health in April, and which have been sent to hospitals across the country since September. Recall that antigen tests look for virus envelope proteins and detect the pathogen on this basis.
As reported by TVN24.pl, the city’s magistrate recently asked the management of 10 hospitals (whose governing body is the town hall) about the assessment of the tests provided by the ministry. – All [directors – ed.] Believe that they are useless for testing patients and determining their health condition – said Paweł Rabiej. So the decision was made to send the Korean antigen tests to the Ministry of Health.
- Can Coronavirus Tests Be Trusted?
It turns out that no hospital in Warsaw supervised by the city hall has introduced these tests. – After reading these tests [directors – ed.] Decided that there was no point in using such a clumsy tool (…) since there is access to normal (genetic – ed.) – explained Vice President Rabiej.
– We didn’t want to impose or suggest anything. The medical staff themselves, after reading the whole story, choose a much more precise genetic test, not the Korean one, he adds.
According to TVN24.pl, other institutions in Poland are also considering sending back Korean tests.
“The sensitivity of antigen tests is 40 percent.”
As early as April, when the health ministry was importing rapid tests from Korea, experts criticized the move, warning that both negative and potentially false-positive results could not be fully trusted. In a recent interview by Medonet, this opinion was confirmed by prof. dr. hab. n. med. Robert Flisiak, head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology at the Medical University of Bialystok and president of the Polish Society of Epidemiologists and Doctors of Infectious Diseases.
- Prof. Flisiak: I claim that the epidemic is no longer under control. The whole interview
– Prof. Horban, the national consultant for infectious diseases, recently released the results of a study conducted at a hospital at ul. Wolska in Warsaw. These data show that the sensitivity of antigen tests is 40%. This means that out of 10 patients who are infected, six will test negative for this test despite being infected – said prof. Robert Flisiak. What does this lead to? – Antigen tests at HEDs were to be used to be able to do triage, i.e. quickly and safely refer patients to other departments. So, based on the false-negative test, we can – feeling safe – refer the COVID-19 patient to other rooms. And thus cause further disease outbreaks – explains the expert.
The professor points out that in the studied group there was a small group of people in whom the sensitivity of the test was as high as 80%. – These are patients with a very high amount of virus in the respiratory tract. But how can we select them before taking the test?
- Poles are increasingly doing coronavirus tests for their own money. Such research is not cheap
It is also known that the test can give a false-positive result. – This means that if a patient comes to us with another disease – for example, unconscious – but has a false positive COVID-19 test result, he is immediately transported to the infectious diseases ward.
– We had such a case: the patient was unconscious, he came to our infectious diseases ward on the basis of a positive antigen test result. This resulted in a great row for the Ministry of Health itself. In the end, we received information that the test was performed in plasma, which is impossible because the test is performed on a nasopharyngeal swab. There was no diagnostician’s signature for the test results, which is inconsistent with Polish law, each result should be signed by at least two people. And such a result, worth nothing, decided about further treatment of the patient, who should be transferred to a completely different healthcare facility.
- Types of coronavirus tests – how do they work and how do they differ?
Prof. Flisiak: No standards are met with these tests
Prof. Flisiak draws attention to yet another problem related to antigen tests – the way in which a swab is taken for examination.
– When collecting material for the PCR test (genetic, recommended by WHO – editorial note), we try to maintain full standards of purity. The samples in the laboratory are processed in a laminar chamber. In the case of antigen tests, the apparatus is placed in the emergency room near other patients, the swab is taken in a normal environment, where other contaminants are easy to find. So it’s also easy to get false results. No standards are met with these tests, he told Medonet.
- Commercial tests for COVID-19. What do we know about them?
What is the conclusion of this? – In my opinion, the first generation antigen tests purchased by the Ministry of Health are useless. They were constructed at the beginning of the pandemic, worked on in January and February, and two epochs in laboratory diagnostics have passed since then. The quality of genetic tests has improved, and we are forced to believe in tests that were not very reliable from the beginning – says Robert Flisiak. – Of course, we have to distinguish them from the new generation of antigen tests that have just appeared and represent a completely different quality – he emphasizes.
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