Anyone who has Covid symptoms should do a self-test. So far, so well known. Only: Many of the products sold in Switzerland and approved by the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) only show reliable results when the viral load is very high. With a mild to high viral load, however, the tests fail. The CH Media newspapers report on this. They are based on a study by the German Paul Ehrlich Institute.
CH Media made test purchases in several pharmacies in Zurich. It turned out that many of the tests sold performed very poorly. A Coop Vitality pharmacy, for example, sells the “Flowflex Sars-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test”. Only: With a high virus load, only four percent of this could prove an infection, as the newspapers write. With a moderate viral load, the test fails completely.
Staff does not indicate better alternatives
The same test is also offered in Topharm pharmacies. There is also a test from the manufacturer Roche. However, this does not perform well even with a very high virus load, it is said.
High demand: We’re running out of self-tests!(00:42)
The Migros subsidiary Medbase also sells the Roche self-test, while pharmacies in the Amavita chain carry the “Sars-CoV-2 Antigen Test Kit” from the manufacturer Genrui Biotech Inc. This too cannot display the virus with a moderate viral load, with a high only in 57 percent of the cases.
Explosive: In none of the test purchases did the staff draw attention to the shortcomings of the tests sold, according to the report. The buyer was also not informed of a better alternative.
Pharmacists’ association relies on BAG
However, it is known that self-tests are not comparable to professionally performed or PCR tests. And there are also self-tests in retail that work comparatively well. One that is 87 percent reliable with a high virus load is the one from Siemens. This can be bought from the kiosk operator Valora. However, a test costs CHF 9.95.
According to CH Media, the pharmacy association reacted calmly to the test results. The pharmacies adhered to the list of tests validated by the BAG, it said on request. (oco)