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The Scientific Technical Committee (Cts) gave the green light, in today’s meeting, to the indications contained in the circular of the Ministry of Health onuse of quick swabs even in schools for screening only. These are the rapid “antigen tests” used up to now at airports, always for monitoring large numbers of people. The Ministry of Health, with a circular issued at night, gave the final go-ahead: The use of such rapid antigen tests capable of ensuring an accelerated diagnosis of Covid-19 cases, allowing a timely differential diagnosis in suspected cases between SARS-CoV2 flu and illness syndrome.
How do they work
Technically, it is a different type of “rapid” diagnostic swab that detects the presence of the virus in infected individuals. They are called “fast”, “antigens” or “bar of soap”. They work differently than traditional tampons: they are based on the detection of viral proteins (antigens) present in respiratory secretions. Also in this case the sampling is done with sticks inserted into the nostrils and pharynx.. The answer “yes / no” as for the pregnancy kits and arrives on average in 20 minutes. No special training is required for reading and the result does not require laboratory tools. The answer (but it depends on the models) comes in minutes. They have a sensitivity of 80-85%, certainly lower than “classic” tampons, that is to say recognize around 80-85 out of 100 infected. If a person has a low amount of the virus in their body, the test could give a false negative result. Sometimes they look like “bars of soap” or “credit cards” with colored bars. They are already used in Italy at airports or when they serve as mass control (as happened with the return of countries considered “at risk” such as Croatia, Spain, Malta and Greece).
Use at school
In the draft circular presented by the Ministry of Health and reviewed by the CTS, it is explicitly stated that “for the sole purpose of screening it is possible to use antigen tests” in schools. There are Regions that have already written protocols where it is expected the entrance of ASL physicians to school to give quick tests to students who feel bad. Specify “for detection purposes only” because the diagnostic test par excellence is still the “traditional” swab It has a sensitivity of 98% and in the laboratory it takes 2 to 6 hours. The need to speed up procedures has led to this step that could help the school understand if there are positive students.
There will also be salivaries
Validation for i “salivary” swabs, another type of quick swab that relies on the collection of saliva (therefore less invasive than the nasal swab). Also in this case we are dealing with molecular biology tests (“classic” swab) performed with different techniques. They can give a result in the laboratory. within 5-10 minutes. Salivary swabs are used in some countries around the world (such as the USA and Japan) especially when they are needed. mass projection, for which it is necessary to know in a short time the positivity of groups of subjects considered at risk. High sensitivity, but, even in this case, it depends on the kits used. In Italy, experiments with this type of test are being carried out, but they have not yet been validated by the Ministry of Health, they are used, for example, in Veneto and Lazio.
The public tender
In fact, the green light was given by the Extraordinary Commissioner for the Covid emergency, Domenico Arcuri, to the public request for an offer for supply of 5 million rapid tests Intended for the qualitative detection of specific Sars-Cov-2 antigens present in nasopharyngeal swabs or saliva samples. Offers must be submitted before 6.30 pm on Thursday, October 8, 2020. Companies intending to respond must indicate their availability to provide a sufficient number of machines for free loan, if necessary, at the distribution sites indicated by the Commissioner extraordinary, for the administration of the tests delivered, and to distribute the tests in the national territory with the appropriate means.
September 29, 2020 (change September 29, 2020 | 20:38)
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