Covid-19 : four questions about the serological tests in pharmacy

From Saturday, rapid tests for diagnostic guidance are available at the pharmacy. Express Train highlighted this review method. A great innovation

From Saturday, rapid tests for diagnostic guidance are available at the pharmacy. Express Train highlighted this review method.

Great news in the fight against the spread of Covid-19: as of Saturday, and by decree published in the Official Gazette, pharmacies are allowed to carry out rapid diagnostic orientation tests (TROD). They inform you in a few minutes if someone has developed antibodies against Covid-19. But they require detailed examinations in case of a positive result.

How to run these tests?

TROD serological tests consist of extracting a drop of blood by pricking the skin, usually on the tip of a finger, and then putting it in contact with a reagent. The result appears in a few minutes. A positive TROD test means that the person has been exposed to the coronavirus and has developed, or is developing, an immune response. Until now, they could not be carried out only in a medical analysis laboratory, in a city or hospital.

Who can make them?

Some pharmacies will refuse to perform serological tests on children. “For now, the recommendation is that you prefer not to practice it as adults,” several pharmacies in Paris told Express. “Essentially there is no difference, but the force of the bite to remove a drop of blood may be too much for a child.”

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What is its effectiveness?

TROD tests have the disadvantage that they do not show whether a person is still a carrier of the virus and therefore contagious. The list of 51 permitted tests was published by the Ministry of Health. Some detect only IgG (anti-immunoglobulin G) antibodies, which are formed at least 14 days after being in contact with the virus, while others also show the presence of IgM (immunoglobulin M) produced earlier, which can be detected around One week. after infection.

“This is a polaroid photo, it means that you take that day, J-day. If you don’t have antibodies, necessarily, 15 days, three weeks later, it doesn’t mean that the antibodies are not present in your blood.” He explained. for RTL François Blanchecotte, president of the union of biologists.

A positive result must be confirmed in the laboratory by a blood test and laboratory examination to clarify the reality of the immune response and possibly by a virological test (RT-PCR) to check if the virus is still present in the body. and therefore, whether there is a risk or not, of infecting other people.

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Because regardless of the serological test, uncertainty remains about protection, immunity against the virus, what would ensure the presence of antibodies, and if so, its duration. “Therefore, according to the current state of knowledge, these tests still have no place in the identification of people protected from the virus,” the High Health Administration wrote in mid-May.

However, for the identification of people who are or have been infected by the virus, serological tests can be used in the epidemiological surveillance of the disease, as well as a diagnostic strategy, in addition to the virological test (RT-PCR) is the test first line for the diagnosis of the acute phase of the Covid-19 disease.

Why is authorization happening now?

Pharmacists have been demanding for many weeks that these TROD tests can be marketed, while biologists and medical unions are strongly opposed to this possibility. In a July 3 announcement from various organizations, the biologists “warned authorities and the general public about the difficulties in use and the complexity of interpreting the results of these serological tests.” They believe that the nasal swab test is preferable because it shows whether the patient is contagious.

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Serology tests, which came on the scene at the beginning of June after the announcement of reimbursement by Social Security, continue to be debated due to the uncertainties that remain about the relationship between the presence of antibodies and protection against reinfection and fears that the widespread use of evidence could be an excuse to “loosen” the injunction.

Update date: July 13, 2020, 05:58

Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: newstars.edu.vn

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