So-called antigenic tests, which look for an express protein in the virus, were first introduced months ago. They are reasonable and fast, but experts said at the time that they were also less accurate than the PCR test, which even detects the slightest genetic indication of the virus.
However, Germany, which has controlled to involve the spread of the epidemic more than many of its neighbors, recently announced that it buys millions of antigen tests every month.
“We have a new strategy,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters on Monday. “We can now conduct immediate testing of visitors to nursing homes and care homes.
Nursing homes will get up to 20 loose checks depending on the month for the resident. These can be used to control patients and, more importantly, visiting parents, who may be involuntary carriers of COVID-19, which poses a potentially devastating threat.
“Health insurers will cover the prices of a number of visitors per month,” Merkel said. “This is a big step forward in terms of protection. “
Germany has one of the oldest populations in the world. More than 24 million people are 60 years of age or older and about 900,000 people live in nursing homes. 2. 5 million more young people are severely disabled.
This means that nearly 30% of Germany’s 83 million people are vulnerable to the virus, Merkel said.
“Almost everyone knows it doesn’t need to get infected,” he says.
Germany has reported around 550,000 cases of coronavirus, less than the part recorded in Britain, Spain and France. The number of virus deaths in Germany, 10,669, is also a quarter that of Britain.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Fitness told The Associated Press that brands agreed to provide Germany with nine million antigen tests in November and 11. 5 million tests in December.
Experts warn that while antigen testing is more accurate, they do not deserve to be seen as a replacement for the popular PCR method.
Swiss scientists recently tested two widely available antigen tests, sold through Chicago-based Abbott Laboratories and Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche. Researchers concluded that out of a hundred other people inflamed with the virus, only 85 to 89 tested positive for the antigenic method.
“It meets the criteria published through the World Health Organization, which have a sensitivity of more than 80%,” said Isabella Eckerle, who heads the Center for Emerging Viral Diseases at the University of Geneva, where the tests were validated.
Although the tests are less accurate, they provide quick results, he noted.
“A great credit for these controls would be that you can, for example, create a decentralized control center,” Eckerle told the AP. “Then you build a tent, say, in front of a school or in a park, and then another people can come and after 15 minutes, they’ll know if they’re positive or not.
However, tests should still be performed through a qualified user to take a nasal sample.
“This check is not a house check, ” he said. “It’s nothing you can do at home before your grandmother. “
Sandra Ciesek, who heads the Institute of Medical Virology at Frankfurt University Hospital, says the PCR remains the “gold standard” for now.
But Christian Drosten, one of Germany’s leading virologists who developed one of the first PCR tests for COVID-19, warned that the antigenic approach has its uses if other people take into account its limitations.
A distinctive feature of the new coronavirus is its ability to multiply in the throat of newly inflamed guests, which causes them to spread the virus a few days before they show symptoms. When other people are diagnosed, the amount of viruses they expel when they communicate or even breathe has decreased dramatically.
While only PCR tests can almost absolutely certainly if a user is infected, Drosten says, antigen testing can involve whether a user is infectious and therefore a threat to others.
Some experts say that a negative result of antigenic control would possibly be enough to allow others without symptoms to leave age 40 or return to school or work, giving more freedoms, especially to young people and young adults who are less at risk of serious illness. .
Eckerle, from the University of Geneva, hesitates.
“I wouldn’t call them a game changer,” he says. They are a very attractive and very attractive addition that arrives precisely at the right time. But because they are less delicate than our popular tests, we know that we would probably still lose a small proportion of infectious cases. “
This is a threat that some countries are willing to take on as the pandemic continues and the availability of PCR reaches its limits.
Antigen testing is already used in nursing homes and service apartments in the United States. Spain warned of defects at the beginning of the pandemic, but the World Health Organization has since promoted them as an effective tool for low- and middle-income countries.
Roche says it can provide more than 40 million antigen tests per month internationally and points to more than double until the end of the year. The company refused to disclose the value of its evidence, but stated that “under pandemic conditions like this, it does not charge a barrier to accessing diagnoses. “
Abbott said he offers “tens of millions” of his $5-a-month antigen checkup and is working to build his ability.
While the new restrictions came into force in Germany on Monday without certainty that they will flatten the infection curve, Merkel said the country could receive up to 20 million antigen tests in January, providing a prospect of freedom.
“Then we can (. . . ) start wondering if we can do this for visits to grandparents, only in retirement homes,” he said.
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Achoui-Lesage reported from Geneva and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.
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