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Corona rapid tests at Aldi, Lidl, dm: three things that customers have to pay attention to when making a self-diagnosis

2021-03-08T13:16:54.114Z


With the start of sales of the corona rapid tests, you can check yourself for Sars-CoV-2 at home. However, the procedure has one or the other pitfall ready. We clarify.


With the start of sales of the corona rapid tests, you can check yourself for Sars-CoV-2 at home.

However, the procedure has one or the other pitfall ready.

We clarify.

Munich - Citizens in Germany should be able to undergo a rapid corona test free of charge once a week - according to the plan that the federal government has not yet been able to implement.

Germany's discounters are taking advantage of this and have included rapid corona tests in their range.

Aldi made the start, the rush in the branches was so great that the goods were already sold out in many places on the first day and customers left without the product they were hoping for.

Competitor Lidl only offered a digital self-test, whereupon the website collapsed in the meantime.

These days, the range of offers with the pragmatic solution will gradually grow and millions of people will get an antigen test.

The supermarket rivals Edeka and Rewe also have the topic on their


radar, and drugstores and pharmacies will also offer corona rapid tests for personal use.

This means that even medical laypeople can test themselves for the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus and see the result shortly afterwards.

Before the self-tests are granted special approval by the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM), it is checked whether the procedure can be carried out without specialist knowledge.

Does this prevent errors from the outset?

Not necessarily - rather, there is room for ailments or even a wrong result.

Corona rapid test harbors pitfalls that one should be aware of

Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn warns that the self-tests do not offer "absolute" security.

There are leaflets with instructions for the lay self-tests for at home.

Nevertheless, one or the other pitfall awaits when taking the smear and evaluating it:

+

Corona rapid test for everyone: You can get antigen tests from discounters, drug stores and pharmacies.

© Oliver Mueller / imago-images

1 .: During the corona self-test from the supermarket, the stick should be inserted slowly and straight into the nose, advises ENT doctor Bernhard Junge-Hülsing from Starnberg south of Munich - flat in the direction of the floor of the ear canal.

“Under no circumstances push the bridge of the nose towards the forehead,” says the

dpa

doctor

.

In the self-tests, the sample is not taken that deep from the nose, you can do this yourself.

It can be more difficult for many people because of a bend in the nasal septum.

“If it's shifted on one side, things are usually better on the other,” explains Junge-Hülsing.

According to him, what is important for an unadulterated result - and this is where the first problem point arises - clean hands and a clean surface for the test material.

Otherwise there is a risk of contamination of the sample taken and thus contamination, for example by microorganisms.

Corona self-test: negative test result?

This is how it is with reliability

2 .: The second major risk of error in the fight against Corona arises from the connection when the test cassette shows the result: Because a negative test result is not a license, rather a snapshot and there is no guarantee that the person tested is really not a Sars-CoV -2 viruses.

The reason: the reliability is not 100 percent.

The antigen tests must have a minimum value in terms of sensitivity and specificity

which is below - and thus leave a margin for an inexact test result.

This is because the corona self-tests work best when there is a high viral load.

Infected people with a low viral load, such as at the onset or as the viral disease subsides, may go undetected.

Corona rapid test at home: It is important not to feel safe

3 .: This could consequently lead to the fact that infected people feel in a false sense of security due to a negative test result - and then infect other people after all.

This means that a negative test result can provide additional security before visiting the grandparents.

However, the continued application of the prescribed hygiene rules such as keeping your distance, ventilating, wearing a mask or washing your hands is still essential.



If the self-test is positive?

Then isolate immediately anyway and notify the health department or a doctor.

This is followed by a PCR test to confirm the self-test result in a laboratory.

(PF)

List of rubric lists: © Oliver Mueller / imago-images

Source: merkur

All life articles on 2021-03-08

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