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False negative self-test cases are soaring with Omicron. Ditto with antigens. However, some point out their usefulness.
Self-tests are not the most reliable.
© 20 Min / Carole Alkabes
The misadventure suffered by Nuria Gorrite shows it. The president of the Vaud Council of State carried out five negative self-tests before a PCR was found to be positive for Covid-19. Regularly, the verdicts of the PCRs thus deduce those of the other tests, while the people tested think they can have normal social behavior and even have, in the event of a negative antigenic test, a Covid pass.
Only PCR tests
“With us, we only perform PCR tests,” warns Silvia Missana, head nurse of the Vevey Gare Medical Center. We are not going to needlessly bring people in twice. Give an antigenic to someone who is sick, who has already had to wait 2 hours outside, so that he then receives an SMS a quarter of an hour later telling him that he is positive and that he can resume an appointment to redo the line to do his PCR … We have neither the time nor the capacity. A large number of centers would have to be reopened if we proceeded in this way. “
“We would avoid many contaminations”
However, the head nurse remains convinced of the merits of the use of self-tests and their protective role: “What happened with us on December 25 is a good illustration of this. Almost 100% of the people who came to be tested made an appointment following taking a positive self-test. A good number of them were asymptomatic and had self-tested as a precaution, before a family meal. I am convinced that if everyone used the self-tests regularly, like once a week, we would avoid a lot of contamination. “
The self-tests also find favor in the eyes of Samia Hurst, vice-president of the Confederation task force. “Faced with Omicron, theeur sensitivity is less. (…) We still see too much misunderstanding which acts as a sort of switch: when the test is negative it means that there is no risk at all. And when it is positive, the risk is full. In fact, it’s a kind of volume knob. (…) It is useful to use it rather than not using it, because when the test is positive, one can refrain from having the contacts that one would have had without it. It contributes to the reduction of risks ”, specified said the professor, Tuesday, during the press point of the Federal Council. However, the bad verdicts of antigenic tests offer, on the contrary, a blank check in the form of a Covid pass which causes serious havoc.
There are many testimonials from readers reporting erroneous results obtained through self-tests, or even d’antigenic. There is thus the case recounted by Eva *, a member of a music group in which all members are vaccinated. After a weekend together, Eva started to have symptoms. She then had an antigen test at a center on Monday. The result turned out to be negative. The next day, despite more marked symptoms, she went to work. On Wednesday, really in bad shape, she decided to take an antigen test once more, the result also negative. Then on Thursday, on the advice of friends who had experienced the same mishap, she opted for a PCR test, the result of which, communicated the next day, was positive. From Monday to Thursday, Eva has so led an almost normal life, at the risk of infecting his contacts. Even more incredible, the story of Léa *, asymptomatic, who doubled the tests before a trip, for reasons of delays. The antigen was found to be negative and enabled him to obtain the C passovid while the PCR verdict, revealed a dozen hours later, was positive.
