Know, This Plus Minus Rapid Test Antigen According to Page Members all

KOMPAS.com – Rapid test antigen to detect the corona virus is now a requirement for those who travel out of town during the corona virus pandemic.

This rule will come into force on 18 December 2020 to 8 January 2021. Previously, travel could be made with negative results rapid test antibody.

Chairman of the Central Board of the Indonesian Association of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Prof. DR. Dr. Aryati MS, Sp. PK (K) explained the pluses and minuses of the rapid antigen test.

He explained that there are a number of ways to detect Covid-19.

In order, the best, according to him, is culture procedures using live viruses.

However, this method is difficult to implement because it must be carried out in a research laboratory and uses strict procedures.

The method under culture, carried out using molecular. One of them is the examination procedure using PCR.

PCR, however, takes a longer time.

Also read: Crowded with the Rapid Antigen Test, This is a Complete Explanation of the Ministry of Health from HET to the Issue of Sanctions

Plus minus rapid test antigen

Well, the advantages of rapid antigen test include being able to detect viruses directly and can be done faster than PCR.

Therefore, according to him, this rapid antigen test is an option because it can be carried out quickly with a confidence level below the PCR.

However, Aryati reminded, the process of examining the antigen test must be done quickly after sampling.

” Antigen there is buffer lysys in the tube so that the work must be done quickly, “said Aryati when contacted Kompas.com, Saturday (19/12/2020).

Another plus, it can detect when the patient enters the acute phase and is highly contagious.

Here are some of the advantages of the rapid antigen test:

• Direct detection of viral components
• Good for acute phase detection (early case detection)
• Does not require an incubation period to show positive results
• Does not require special laboratory specifications for rapid test work
• Does not require special skills of officers in carrying out the rapid test.

As for the number of rapid test antigen deficiencies:

• It can only detect it in the acute phase, while RT-PCR is still positive
• Using an upper airway sample (naso / oropharyngeal swab)
• Staff inability to collect specimens can affect the results
• Requires level 3 PPE for specimen collection
• Requires special attention to varying sensitivities
• The validation test is still limited so that it cannot replace the RT-PCR position.

Also read: 6 Areas That Apply the Required Antigen Rapid Test Document, Which One?

Which must be considered

Aryati said, every antigen equipment has a stipulation on how long it should take for the examination to be immediately carried out on the samples that have been taken.

He said, if the examination was not carried out immediately, it could potentially lead to false negatives.

“If PCR can be done not immediately because there is a medium for the virus to survive. But the antigen must be done immediately. If not immediately, how? The results could be false negative,” he said.

Ideally, the implementation of the rapid antigen test also requires a biosafety cabinet to avoid the potential for aerosols when sampling so it should not be carried out in the open.

In addition, antigen sampling also needs to use PPE level 3.

Aryati said, sampling through nasopharyngeal swabs should also be done by trained personnel.

The reason is that the sampling process requires a special technique so that the sampling tool can touch the tip and rotate it.

The goal is to make maximum sampling and not to appear false negatives.

In full, here are a number of things that must be considered in carrying out an antigen rapid test:

• The location where the antigen was processed
• Sampling of nasopharyngeal swabs should be carried out by trained personnel to ensure the quality of the sample / specimen
• Must be done immediately
• Control of brands of unknown validity of antigen reagents
• Interpretation of results must be accompanied by caution (see PatKLIn manual)
• Gold standard remains NAAT for example PCR.

Also read: How Accuracy is the Rapid Antigen Test Compared to Other Covid-19 Tests?