Paul Ehrlich Institute has checked the reliability of corona tests

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The Omikron variant ensures rapidly increasing incidences and ever stricter corona rules in Germany. Schoolchildren and employees usually have to test themselves several times a week when they visit school or the office. And 2G + also forces people who have been vaccinated twice as well as those who have recovered to take the corona test in their free time. All with the aim of keeping the epidemic under control. But how reliable are the so-called SARS-CoV-2 antigen tests? The Paul Ehrlich Institute has checked 305 (as of January 12, 2022) commercially available corona tests for their accuracy and found large differences.

Corona rapid tests on Amazon

These corona tests measure the most precisely

In order for the Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Medicines (BfArM) to approve a rapid antigen test, the manufacturer must provide evidence of the diagnostic sensitivity. Corona infections detected by a precise PCR test are compared with the antigen test. If at least 80 percent of the positive PCR tests are detected with a high viral load, the antigen test meets the minimum requirements and can be sold in the EU. In the test, the sensitivity for medium and low viral loads is also given and an overall sensitivity is calculated from this. This value is particularly interesting because it takes into account the accuracy of the antigen tests even with a low viral load. These corona tests performed best:

Guangdong Longsee Biomedical Co., Inc.

Acro Diagnostics Co., Ltd

Hangzhou Jucheng Medical Products Co., Ltd

Innova Medical Group, Inc.

Suzhou Soochow University Saier Immuno Biotech Co., Ltd.

Innovation Biotech (Beijing) Co. LTD

Shenzhen CAS-Envision Medical Technology Co., Ltd.

Bioscience (Tianjin) Diagnostic Technology Co., Ltd

Dynamiker Biotechnology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd

Hangzhou Biotest Biotech Co., Ltd

Jiangxi Province JinHuan Medical Instrument Co., LTD.

Nantong Egens Biotechnology

Shenzhen Kingfocus Biomedical Engineering Co., Ltd.

Longsee 2019-nCoV Ag Rapid Detection Kit (Immuno- Chromatography)

COVID-19 Rapid Test Cassette Antigen Test Kit

COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test (Oral Fluid)

SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Detection Kit (LFA)

SARS-CoV-2 Ag rapid test kit

INNOVA SARS-CoV-2 self-test (qualitative antigen rapid test)

InstantSure Covid-19 Ag CARD

INVBIO One Step Diagnostic Rapid Test Cassette

SARS-Cov-2 Antigen Rapid Detection Kit

Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Antigen Rapid Test

Dynamiker SARS-CoV-2 AG Rapid Test

Novel Corona Virus (2019-nCoV) Ag Rapid Test Kit

Sienna COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test Cassette (Nasal Swab)

COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test (Colloidal Gold) / Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Antigen Rapid Detection Kit

SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test

COVID-19 Antigen Detection Kit (Quantum Dots-Based Immunofluorescence Chromatography)

The accuracy of the tests increases with the viral load

Klaus Cichutek, President of the Paul Ehrlich Institute, explained that 80 percent of the approved rapid tests also detect the highly contagious Omikron variant. However, this value only applies to a high viral load of the infected. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has meanwhile announced a positive list for rapid tests that can easily identify the Omikron variant. However, this is still under construction and the present list is only an interim status. In the case of a medium and low viral load of an infected person, many of the rapid tests tested do not work and only a PCR test can provide certainty.

Storage and use of the tests is critical

Corona rapid tests should be stored and used at room temperature between 15 and 30 degrees. Storage temperatures that are too low or too high and high temperature differences between storage and application can falsify the result. In order for a quick test to give a correct result, it is also important to follow the instructions for use exactly. You have to take a sufficient amount of the test substance from your nose and observe the prescribed waiting time for the reaction.



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