In order to further optimize the new crown virus detection strategy, the comprehensive group of the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council recently decided to add antigen detection as a supplement to nucleic acid testing, and has formulated and issued the "Application Plan for New Coronavirus Antigen Detection (Trial)".
What is antigen testing? What should I do if I test positive? Is there an alternative to nucleic acid testing? According to the plan, the reporter interviewed experts from authoritative departments to make interpretations.
1
What is antigen testing?
Whether a virus has invaded the human body, there are currently three main methods to detect: nucleic acid detection, antigen detection and antibody detection. Both are directly methods of detecting the virus.
Compared with nucleic acid detection, antigen detection can be faster and more convenient to operate, but the accuracy is lower, and it is generally used in the early stages of infection. After the outbreak of the epidemic, many countries recognized nucleic acid testing as the "gold standard" for new crown virus detection, but also promoted antigen testing as an effective supplement.
According to the "Application Plan for Antigen Detection of New Coronavirus (Trial)", the positive antigen results can be used for early diversion and rapid management of suspected populations, and the selected antigen detection reagents must be approved by the National Drug Administration.
On September 6, 2021, the JOINT TEST kit for the new crown influenza was put into production and distributed in Shanghai, which was carried out by the staff in the laboratory for product verification. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Fang Zhe
2
Who is it suitable for?
The above protocol specifies the applicable populations for antigen testing:
First, those who go to primary medical and health institutions for treatment, accompanied by respiratory tract, fever and other symptoms and have symptoms within 5 days;
The second is isolation and observation personnel, including personnel in home isolation observation, close contact and sub-close contact, entry isolation observation, sealing and control area and control area;
Third, residents of communities with antigen self-testing needs.
According to the plan, community residents who have self-testing needs can purchase antigen detection reagents for self-testing through retail pharmacies, online sales platforms and other channels.
3
Is there an alternative to nucleic acid testing?
The National Health Commission specifically stated that nucleic acid testing is still the basis for confirming the diagnosis of new coronavirus infection, and antigen testing as a supplementary means can be used for screening specific populations, which is conducive to improving the ability of "early detection".
In other words, it is to promote the monitoring model of "antigen screening and nucleic acid diagnosis".
According to the plan, where primary medical and health institutions have nucleic acid testing capabilities, nucleic acid testing shall be preferred; those that do not have nucleic acid testing capabilities may be tested for antigens.
Isolation observers and community residents conducting antigen testing shall carefully read the instructions and standardize operations. Positive and negative antigens in suspected populations should be further nucleic acid testing. A positive antigen result is not a definitive basis for COVID-19 infection.
On March 11, 2022, at a nucleic acid test sampling point in Dadong Street, Chuanying District, Jilin City, the staff conducted nucleic acid testing and sampling for residents. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Nan
4
What should I do if I test positive for antigen?
According to the plan, people who test positive for antigens, regardless of whether they have respiratory tract, fever and other symptoms, should immediately report to their communities (villages and towns), and the community (villages and towns) will contact the emergency center to transfer residents to medical institutions that set up fever clinics for nucleic acid testing in accordance with the guidelines for the transfer of personnel related to the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
At the same time, the sampling swabs, sampling tubes, test cards, etc. after the positive personnel are loaded into sealed bags and transferred to medical institutions for disposal as medical waste.
People who have negative antigen self-tests but have symptoms, according to the plan, it is recommended to go to the medical institutions that set up fever clinics as soon as possible for nucleic acid testing; if it is inconvenient to seek medical treatment, they should self-isolate at home, avoid going out, and conduct antigen self-testing once a day for 5 consecutive days.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Reporters: Dong Ruifeng, Xu Penghang
Producer: Mou Yanqiu Huang Linhao
Editor: Liu Yiran
Proofreader: Bing Zhao