In New Zealand and Australia, the activity of acute respiratory diseases is at a higher level than usual for this time of year because of rhinoviruses and SARS-CoV-2, according to recent health department data. If a patient has a fever and cough and feels exhausted, it could be COVID-19 and it could also be one of the new variants of Sars-CoV- 2. Equally if not more so It’s important to consider if its Influenza A or B and RSV Respiratory Synctovirus. Inscience has the simple and much admired Biopen that combines all of these significant all year round respiratory virus in one easy to use Biopen rapid test. What significance do rapid tests have? When should doctors advise or should people consider testing?
When to Test
People at a higher risk for severe COVID-19 get the most benefit from tests and knowing what they are dealing with. This population includes the following groups:
- Older people
- Early childhood and school children
- Immunocompromised people
- People with respiratory diseases
- People with cardiovascular diseases
- People with liver and kidney diseases
- People with neurological diseases
- People with obesity
If testing detect SARS-CoV-2 infection early, people can receive antivirals such as Paxlovid, for example, to reduce morbidity and mortality risks. IMPORTANTLY , people without specific risks should test themselves if they plan to visit vulnerable individuals.
Detecting New Variants
A recent comprehensive study provides evidence that antigen tests targeting the nucleocapsid (N) protein of SARS-CoV-2 also detect new variants. The Biopen is proven to detect the new and current variants.
Test Timing
Is the time of day you test significant. There is uncertainty about what time of day to test but such effects can be mitigated by performing multiple COVID-19 rapid tests over time. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar organizations make this recommendation. Studies of symptomatic individuals show that serial tests increase accurate diagnosis. This means a series of tests conducted following known exposure and continued while symptoms continue to exist
In the early stages of infection, swabs collected may contain too little virus material because of widespread immunity against SARS-CoV-2 present resulting from previous infections or vaccination. This false negative is significant in asymptomatic individuals or people in the incubation phase; a single test may in those without strong symptoms, or those recently exposed, have a false negative result. Therefore, the FDA recommends conducting at least two additional tests 48 hours apart in case of a negative test result.
Costs of Rapid Tests
The days of free tests are long gone.
Test kits are available from Inscience or in some pharmacies and supermarkets. In boxes of 20 tests is the most economical with lots of 5 or 10 also sold costing between $6 and S15(4 respiratory virus in one test) each, depending on the provider. If a person still has old rapid coronavirus tests in his or her medicine cabinet, are they still suitable?
Expired Tests
Properly stored tests that have not passed their expiration dates can still be used. But microbiologist and pathologist Dr Daniel Rhoads from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio warns against expired rapid tests.
The chemicals may have decomposed, the solvent may have evaporated, or antibodies may have lost their effectiveness, thus making false negative results more likely. “These are proteins that can decompose over time,” said Rhoads.
