As they prepare for the long-awaited “second wave” of the coronavirus pandemic, countries around the world rushed to expand their testing capabilities, turning to those, such as Taiwan, Germany and New Zealand, who can cope more with bad weather. . The first wave.
In many places, adding to France, the call for staggered testing has resulted in long outdoor queues of medical practices and ephemeral laboratories amid an influx of concerned tourists returning from their summer vacation.
Health personnel complained of a deteriorated mood due to the long wait and also reported widespread confusion about who takes a check, what type of check and when.
Last August, U. S. fitness officials were in the process of being able to do so. But it’s not the first time They filed a complaint after they issued rules on white house Coronavirus Working Group tests that went against what scientists are required to control the pandemic.
In trying to explain the recommendations, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that “detection can be thought of as for all close contacts of patients shown or in all likelihood Covid-19,” only for critics to point out that “maybe” was not helpful to the general public.
Who gets tested?
Test rules would possibly depend on the level of the epidemic in a given country or region and the local government’s ability to conduct the tests.
In cases of limited capacity, the government would possibly check only subgroups of suspected cases based on the availability of the apparatus needed to verify or the transmission point of the Covid-19 network, says the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). , an EU agency.
Using a “resource-focused approach,” ECDC recommended prioritizing testing for multiple groups, adding inpatients with severe respiratory infections, symptomatic fitness staff, and other older people with underlying chronic conditions.
As with face masks, whose scarcity places governments at the top of the world, the direction of fitness authorities has evolved with the availability of tests.
Many countries that have developed maximum capacity now inspire all members of the public to request a test, even if they have symptoms.
In France, which has a public insurance system that is beneficiary of physical fitness, all tests are reimbursed through the State, however, priority is given to others who have reported symptoms and have received a prescription or who have been in contact with an inflamed person. .
To avoid rushing into laboratories and medical practices, the UK National Health Service says other people are only checked for symptoms or asked to be tested. “This will help make sure other people who want a check can take one,” he says.
What to look for?
Tests for Covid-19 come with polymerosis chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic control, which is obtained with a nasal sample, and antibody control, a blood test that can indicate whether the user has been inflamed in the past.
Antibody tests are helpful in determining whether other people have ever had the virus, adding those who have not had any symptoms.
On the other hand, antibody monitoring is of little use to other people who have had symptoms for less than a week, as it takes an average of a week or two to spread the antibodies. It is not used to diagnose an active coronavirus infection as the antibodies can remain in your blood for several weeks after healing.
Currently, researchers know if the presence of antibodies means that you are immune to coronavirus in the future; or if it’s immune, how long it will last.
It is also known whether antibody grades are minimized over time up to undetectable degrees.
According to a study by the British company Cochrane, antibody tests conducted a week after the first symptoms detected only 30% of other people with Covid-19, but the accuracy was higher in the week with 70% detection and the highest in the third. week (more than 90% screening), before falling back in the following weeks.
Because of this discrepancy, others are asked to undergo the test within 8 days of the onset of symptoms that perform a PCR test, which detects the virus as antibodies, and can therefore know if a user has become inflamed very early or not.
However, some studies recommend that up to one in five tests can result in a “false negative”, indicating that the user does not have the virus when in fact it has it.
This may be due to verification or human error in verification, which is why many fitness experts propose repeated PCR controls, especially if symptoms persist.
When to arrive or return?
People who report symptoms are requested to undergo a PCR test as soon as possible and isolate the test before and after the test pending the result.
The same goes for those who share a house with an inflamed person.
In cases of more limited exposure, such as having a drink with someone who then tests positive, the “contact” user waits seven days before being tested to allow the virus to become incuberated.
Health experts warned that other people who are reviewed too soon after exposure may end up with a false negative, meaning they can then test positive.
Those who have a negative PCR test and are then exposed or expand symptoms will be recontrolled.
Anyone who test positives will be isolated at home for at least 10 days and until all symptoms go away.
Health in many countries recently requires two consecutive negative PCR tests, taken 24 hours apart, before a patient leaves isolation.
The World Health Organization and CDC also say that others can recover and be non-infectious 10 days after the onset of their symptoms, as long as they do not show symptoms for 3 days.