Doubts continue to exist about the effectiveness of antigen testing. Pointed out by some French people, wary of the results provided and the screening method used, antigenic tests are indeed the subject of many questions about their reliability.
For the past few hours, Zoe has been feeling symptoms of Covid-19. To find out if she was infected or not, she went to a screening center to perform an antigen test.
Not being convinced by the method used during this first screening, she decided to do a second one in a pharmacy.
“The gentleman who tested me did not stay five seconds in each nostril, as we usually hear. It was really, really fast. This is why if the result is negative, I would not be too confident because I do not have the impression that it was done super well, ”explained the young woman at the microphone of CNEWS.
Methodology called into question
In the Trichon pharmacy in Roubaix (North), 30% of the patients tested were detected as positive for the coronavirus. According to one of the healthcare professionals at the center, antigen and PCR tests are reliable, provided they are performed correctly.
“I have people who come in: ‘Ah, I did a PCR, I’m negative, I don’t understand, I’m tired, I have a fever…’ So they come back to the pharmacy to take an antigen and they become positive. It is the quality of the sampler that determines the quality of the test ”, analyzed Alexandre Mallet, pharmacist in this establishment in the North, on CNEWS.
How to do an antigen test correctly?
To properly perform an antigen test, the technique is simple. Supporting evidence with a nurse who detailed the sampling method. “So there, we’re going to push the stick down to a small stop. We turn for three seconds and we withdraw, ”explained the young woman in charge of the demonstration for CNEWS.
According to many health professionals, poorly performed tests are the consequence of an overload of work due to the massive influx of French citizens into pharmacies to undergo screening.