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To be effective, a rapid Chinese virus test must be used under certain conditions, experts say.
These are, in particular, rapid tests for COVID-19 that are in high demand on the Internet. However, doctors warn that you may have the disease, but the device should not detect it.
More and more Romanians are huddling to buy rapid tests for COVID-19. The devices are rarely found in pharmacies, but they are everywhere on the Internet and can be purchased for 45 lei each.
The test can be done at home, by anyone, without medical education or training, and the results come almost immediately.
Doctors recommend these types of tests, but specify that they may be irrelevant if performed in the first week after the onset of the disease.
A doctor who specializes in infectious diseases points out that there are antibody tests that do not help to establish an early diagnosis.
An argument between a Digi24 reporter and a pharmacist shows that rapid tests are not found in pharmacies.
“No, at the moment they have not entered pharmacies, they have announced that they only enter clinics,” said the pharmacist.
Pharmacists say not a day goes by without requests for rapid tests that can detect COVID antibodies.
Those who cannot find them in the units that sell drugs can request them through the Internet. Some sites report that they have already been sold out.
From the dialogue between the reporter and the representative of a company that put up for sale, on the internet, rapid COVID tests emerge and what is the price at which we can buy them.
– Hello, I would like to place an order for a quick test that I saw you sent on your site.
– I do not know if it is sold by pieces, I think it is only sold in boxes.
– How much does a box cost?
“One moment, please!”
– Thank you!
– I think it’s around 3,000 lei.
– And how many kits does it contain?
– 40 kits.
In other words, 75 lei for a kit, with the promise that the devices will be delivered the same day.
Any Romanian can go to the company headquarters to collect the kits for the rapid test. “Come to our headquarters and we can deliver it to you at any time, after you make the payment. Until 18:00 ”, the representative of the reporter’s company told him.
“Is it an accredited test?” Asked the reporter.
“From this point of view, yes, it is just a rapid test, it is not PCR,” they told him.
The product description shows that the result comes in just 10 minutes.
The kits also come with instructions for use – follow the same procedure as for determining blood sugar.
Doctors are reluctant
One of the doctors interviewed by the journalist assures that these are antibody tests, which do not help us to establish an early diagnosis.
Specifically, these tests also have limitations: you may have the disease, but the rapid test may not detect it, because the antibodies appear one week after infection.
“Antibodies do not help us to make an early diagnosis, but they do help us to make a quick diagnosis. Early means that we cannot identify the patient in the first 7 days after the onset of the disease, whether it is asymptomatic, mildly symptomatic or with a noisier symptomatology. The entire PCR test is still the one through which we can ensure an early diagnosis and have a much higher specificity of the results “, underlines Dr. Valeriu Gheorghiță, general practitioner in infectious diseases.
In other words, the rapid test helps us know if a person has been infected. After healing, the antibodies, the ones that fight the virus, last in the body for 2 to 3 months, as some studies show.
“This test finds its usefulness, without discussion, but still requires an interpretation of the results in a clinical context, which would be more difficult for a person with no medical history,” says Dr. Gheorghiță.
Rapid tests are also sought after by those who have been through the disease and intend to donate convalescent plasma, an extremely useful treatment for patients with severe COVID-19.
