Those resistant to the swab in the nostrils will be relieved: following a favorable opinion issued by the High Authority of Health (HAS) at the end of November, EasyCov saliva tests are now reimbursed by Social Security, by an order of 28 December published in the Official Journal of January 5.
Read also: Covid-19: are saliva tests too unreliable?
The EasyCov tests are, as their name suggests, easier to use: “
just take four drops of saliva under the tongue and then perform a manipulation that lasts on average 40 minutes to obtain the result.
The test turns very bright neon yellow when the patient is positive for Covid-19, or orange when it is negative.
It's less complex to set up than PCR tests
, ”
Alexandra Prieux, president of SkillCell
, told
Figaro
.
This Montpellier biotechnology company developed the test in partnership with the CNRS.
Its marketing began at the end of June, once the CE marking had been obtained, ensuring the test's conformity with European standards.
But it was not until November 28, 2020 before receiving the favorable opinion of the High Authority of Health on the EasyCov test, which led to its coverage by the State.
Only medical biology laboratories and doctors are currently able to carry out this screening.
Concerning the target audience, the HAS had recommended, in its opinion, the use of EasyCov tests "
only in symptomatic patients for whom nasopharyngeal sampling is impossible or difficult to perform
", due to
insufficient "
clinical specificity
" (92% against 99%). % required by HAS).
In other words: "
if the test detects a virus other than Covid-19, in 8 out of 100 cases it is likely to think that it is Covid-19.
This is why we also recommend that patients who are positive for the EasyCov test should carry out a PCR test second
, ”specifies the HAS in
Le Figaro
.
Read also: Antigenic tests land in business
SkillCell assures him, "
we believe that the EasyCov test can be very useful to anyone for whom the PCR test is difficult to perform: young children, people in EHPAD, those with disabilities ...
" The reimbursement is therefore well received by the company: "
we hope that this will give a boost to the deployment of saliva tests in France, and give us additional credibility in the eyes of foreign markets, in which we are already very present
", continues Alexandra. Praying.
Because if they were already available on the French market, the fact that they were paying, in contrast to PCR tests, held back more than one laboratory.