"The 'do it yourself' swab tests for the diagnosis of positivity to the SarsCoV2 virus have a reduced reliability and I do not think it is appropriate to think of using them for the purposes of green pass certification".
Massimo Ciccozzi, director of the Medical Statistics and Molecular Epidemiology Unit of the Campus Bio-Medico in Rome, underlines this to ANSA regarding the proposal in this sense put forward by the president of the Conference of Regions Massimiliano Fedriga.
"The do-it-yourself swab tests - explains Ciccozzi - have only 50-51% reliability, so it's like throwing a coin. Obviously they are useful in emergency cases where you have no alternatives, but use them for the green. return to work pass is unacceptable. " As for the request of some politicians to extend the validity of the rapid antigenic swab to 72 hours, "I think that even 48 hours of validity are too many. Therefore, a validity of 72 hours I believe has no validity from an epidemiological point of view and represents, on the contrary, a risk ".
In fact, the expert clarifies, the swab "provides a data relating to what moment about the positivity or negativity to the virus of an individual, but it is obvious that over the next 48 and even more 72 hours one can become infected. A 72 hours, of course, the chances of getting infected are even greater. I understand that this is an economic and cost problem for unvaccinated workers who have to undergo such tests, but from an epidemiological point of view the extension of the validity of the test is not appropriate ".
In general, Ciccozzi points out, "it is essential to inform people from a scientific point of view, to enable them to make a conscious decision regarding anti-Covid vaccination, highlighting how the scientific data is clear and tells us that over 95% of hospitalized for Covid-19 are unvaccinated subjects ".
As for the millions of Italians not yet vaccinated, "this data, also in view of the massive return to work, could lead to an increase in Covid cases, however - concludes the expert - I do not expect the surge in cases last year year. and this because in any case the high vaccination rates reached in the population have led the virus to circulate much less and this makes the difference ".
