Lithuanians are shaking up the PCR test, although antibodies are being enthusiastically tested – this is concerning for doctors



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Doctors say that fewer new cases of coronavirus have been detected for some time and have a direct effect on the flow of patients. It gradually decreases and little by little other more common colds are heading.

“The number of patients with colds is practically the same, but the percentage distribution is different: the number of patients with coronavirus is decreasing,” explained family doctor Toma Kundrotė.

True, he added that the overall decrease in the number of such patients due to quarantine measures – less movement, restricted contact results in less transmission of infections.

However, GPs who see signs of a pandemic are noticing another trend: People are reluctant to see GPs for Covid-19, but want to know if they are already sick.

Choose the easy way

“In particular, they avoid doing the Covid-19 test because the majority of the population has a simple infection, either with mild symptoms or without any symptoms. Therefore, it is not useful for them to know that diagnosis automatically.

Much more often, they consider that they will take the necessary period, recover and then undergo an antibody test that will show whether or not they have this infection, ”said Izabelė Juškien, a family doctor at the MediCa Clinic.

Doctor Izabelė Juškienė

That, according to the doctor, they do the blood test even with great will and therefore there are no problems. However, they are freaked out by the trigger control mechanism after confirming the Covid-19 diagnosis itself.

“Then they have to isolate themselves and control other institutions, such as the National Center for Public Health. These are patients with a mild form of this control, especially young people, they are very reluctant to do so. Therefore, they generally choose the easiest way: don’t study, wait. However, thus avoiding that we control that infection as much as possible, because they are actually 100 percent. it doesn’t feel isolated. And that contact with the outside world already represents a risk for someone else, ”said I. Juškienė.

Antibodies are found and do not appear to be affected

According to T. Kundrotė, the fact that people prefer antibody tests to PCR is also influenced by the fact that it is more common.

“Antibodies are tested by drawing blood, which is less painful. All the more reason and routinely, in a familiar setting, no additional registration is required anywhere. And it is feared that there are many different bureaucratic nuances to isolate, everyone should be informed when performing the PCR test, “he said.

At the same time, the doctor noted that there are several stories about the performance of the antibody test.

“Sometimes CRP is negative, and when antibodies enter, because it is accompanied by typical symptoms of the disease, it is positive. Of course, in cases where the symptoms are typical and the PCR test is negative, try not to invite the patient to the treatment center immediately, to wait at least 10 days. Only then do you do an X-ray examination, listen to your lungs, etc. “- said T. Kundrotė.

Take Kundrotė

Next time, patients who haven’t been diagnosed with the disease still want to find out, possibly sooner.

“We found everything, really, the next time you don’t understand why a person had an antibody test, even though they weren’t sick or what, but the test response is positive.

The next time in the family, there are cases where one is seriously ill and the other is easier, for example, often the husband is normally ill and the wife is slightly ill. And then after their examination, antibodies and quite large amounts are also detected, ”said the doctor.

Half a million may have immunity

As Health Minister Arūnas Dulkys just stated, around half a million people on COVID-19 can be predicted to be asymptomatic or mild.

“It could be predicted that there may be about half a million patients, now (officially) we have about 168 thousand,” the minister said in a meeting with opposition Social Democrats on Monday.

Currently, you are tested for COVID-19 antibodies prior to your COVID-19 vaccination, and about a fifth of people are already immune to COVID-19.

“We are already analyzing the antibodies, they are not vaccinated without testing. What we have seen in the last month is around 20 percent. The wives who are on the list to be vaccinated turn out to have antibodies and are not vaccinated,” said A. Dulkys.

An antibody test is performed before a person is vaccinated against the coronavirus and the test shows whether immunity has already developed after an infection. Currently, the total number of people vaccinated with the first dose exceeds 46 thousand.



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