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Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Many rapid tests or rapid tests are chosen to detect corona virus early COVID-19 inside the body. There are two types of rapid tests that can be used to detect Covid-19, namely the rapid antibody test and the rapid test antigen.
Both can report Covid-19 test results in less than 30 minutes. However, with very different detection precision.
Recently, the government required tourists traveling by land to Bali to take a rapid antigen test on D-2 or 2 x 24 hours before departure. This policy is in effect from August 18 to January 4, 2020.
This provision was decided at the Covid-19 Management Coordination Meeting in DKI Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Bali, led by Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investments Luhut Binsar Panjaitan on Monday (2/14) . This is anticipating an increase in Covid-19 cases during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Meanwhile, passengers on the plane traveling to Bali must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) swab test on D-2 before departure.
University of Indonesia lung specialist Erlina Burhan said the rapid antigen test was much more accurate than the rapid antibody test for detecting Covid-19.
This is because the rapid antigen test detects the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19, it does not detect the body’s antibodies against Covid-19.
Sometimes antibodies do not appear in the initial phase of Covid-19 infection, so they cannot be detected by a rapid antibody test. This often results in false negative results in patients who have actually been infected with Covid-19.
“This antigen swab or rapid antigen test is projected to replace the rapid antibody test because this antigen has better accuracy than the rapid antibody test. This rapid antigen is as fast as the existing results,” Erlina said when contacted . CNNIndonesia.com, long time.
The rapid antigen test also uses a nose or throat swab method, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
The difference is that what is taken is a sample of the antigen or protein released by the virus. This sample is the body’s outermost protein from the Covid-19 virus.
The antigen can be detected when there is an ongoing infection in a person’s body. Therefore, the rapid antigen test can detect the presence of the corona virus antigen in people who are experiencing it.
“What is taken is a smear from the nose or throat and this is inserted into the device and you see the reaction of the Covid-19 antigen. So the virus that is detected is the outside of the virus,” Erlina said.
However, the PCR test is still the highest standard or the gold standard for detecting Covid-19. Because the precision rate of rapid test antigen is even lower than PCR.
Erlina explained that research in Belgium shows that rapid test antigen detection is 105 times less sensitive than the PCR test. But note that the results of the PCR test take a few days compared to the rapid test that takes 30 minutes.
The antigen test only detected between 11.1 percent and 45.7 percent positives compared to PCR positives. Therefore, the antigen also produces false negatives more frequently.
“PCR detects all parts of the virus, only the antigen is part of the virus. The precision is still below PCR, which is still the gold standard,” Erlina said.
The director of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, Amin Soebandrio, said he also had the same opinion. The PCR swab test is highly accurate, although it may take several days for results to be known.
The swab test is done by taking a sample from your nose or throat. The sample is then sent to a laboratory to find any signs of the viral genetic material.
In addition, a diagnostic test is performed with a sample or swab to be analyzed in the laboratory by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with a high degree of precision.
Therefore, the PCR swab test takes longer to know the results, but is much more accurate than the rapid antigen test, especially the rapid antibody test.
(mail / DAL)
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