She was right. Her children are vaccinated, but she has tested each of them at least once after the Covid-19 cases were reported in her schools. She even gave tests to friends: As cases have risen, test-center appointments are hard to come by, and rapid tests are being sold in stores.
Rapid COVID-19 antigen testing is a hot commodity this fall. You buy them at the store or online, swirl a swab around your nostrils and get results in about 15 minutes. Rapid tests are much faster than PCR tests done at a medical office or drugstore, which can take several days to produce results. PCR tests are still more sensitive at detecting the virus, and the tests work in different ways.
The BinaxNOW test, made by Abbott Laboratories, is the most widely available and commonly used over-the-counter rapid antigen test. Other rapid tests authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration include the Alum Covid-19 home test and the Quickview test made by Quiddell.
The tests are flying off drugstore shelves. Some schools and employers are using them in an effort to reduce transmission and quarantine times. And some require guests to use them before attending ceremonies such as weddings. President Biden’s new COVID-19 response plan aims to increase the access and availability of tests, which can cost from $14 to $25 or more.
How reliable are the tests and when should we use them? Here’s what scientists say.
when you have symptoms
Scientists say rapid tests are most reliable when used in people with symptoms. In those cases, rapid tests stack up well against PCR tests processed in laboratories, which are typically used by doctors to diagnose COVID-19 and usually take a day or more to process. Antigen rapid tests detect viral proteins; More sensitive PCR tests detect viral RNA.
So if you’re trying to determine whether your sneezing is due to allergies or COVID-19, or if your 5-year-old has a cold or COVID, a rapid test may be a good option.
Gigi Gronwall, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, says, “There have been studies that have shown that they compare very well – more than 80% of the time – to PCR tests when someone is actively infectious. Is.” Efforts to track development and marketing of rapid tests.
If you’re symptomatic and the rapid test is negative, monitor your symptoms, says Omei Garner, MD, director of clinical microbiology for UCLA Health System. If they get worse, get a PCR test done. If appointments don’t happen immediately, take another rapid test.
test without symptoms
Scientists say rapid tests are not as reliable if you have come in contact with someone who has COVID-19 but you don’t currently have any symptoms.
However, rapid tests can be somewhat useful if you take them several times over several days, says Albert Ko, chair of the department of epidemiology of microbial diseases at the Yale School of Public Health. Screen yourself every two or three days, he suggests. “There is a cumulative benefit of multiple testing.”
However, some doctors, including Dr Garner, say that even if you are doing multiple rapid tests after exposure, you should still get a PCR test. If you have to wait five days for a PCR test, you can have a rapid test in between as a supplement, Dr. Garner says.
do the test correctly
The way you take a rapid test at home, you get a rapid test in a medical office. Home tests can be less accurate because untrained people do not always test correctly.
A study comparing the performance of rapid tests in a health care setting versus in a home found a small reduction in performance at home, which is attributed to common people making more mistakes, says Amy Carger, Minnesota Medical an associate professor in laboratory medicine and pathology at the university. school.
It’s quite simple if you read the instructions carefully, but not everyone does it. Doctors say you want to make sure you wipe the inside of your nose thoroughly from both sides.
“If you find that you can’t get a good sample on your own, ask someone else to help you make sure you really get good coverage of that inner part of the nose on both sides, ” Doctor. Karger says. “If you don’t sample enough, it can lead to a false negative.”
Check the results at the time specified in the instructions; Reading results too early or too late can lead to errors, Dr. Karger notes.
Testing before dinner parties, weddings and other celebrations
Scientists say rapid home tests could be a useful tool in screening guests for events such as weddings, indoor dinner parties or funerals – although not foolproof. A rapid test will not catch every case, but it will detect the most infectious ones.
Alexandria Sage and her fiancé use a rapid test to screen guests before their wedding shower in Kansas City, Mo. “People came 15 minutes early, we gave them a test, they went back to the car, showed us negative, and came in,” says Ms. Sage, who is 30 and lives in Washington, DC, about 35 people. All tested negative.
“My grandmother, who is 91—it was the first time she was at an indoor event with our entire family in two years,” Sage said. “Our goal with this was to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible. And to have some sense of normalcy.”
Such screening worries some doctors. Dr Garner is concerned that rapid test results give asymptomatic people a false sense of security. “The goal is to be as sensitive as possible, hoping to catch the person a day or two before you have symptoms,” Dr. Garner says. “This is a person you don’t want in your marriage.”
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