Do all corona tests detect an Omicron infection?
Ciesek lists suitable rapid tests
Created: 01/12/2022, 5:08 pm
From: Juliane Gutmann
Federal Health Minister Lauterbach plans to publish a list of corona tests that Omikron can detect particularly well.
A number of tests are already considered meaningful.
How meaningful a corona test is depends largely on the type. PCR tests offer the most reliable results, as stated by the federal government on their website. They are the "gold standard" among the corona tests. Rapid antigen tests are all about the product. For example, the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) as the Federal Institute for Vaccines and Biomedical Medicines, in conjunction with researchers from other institutions, examined 122 Covid-19 antigen rapid tests for sensitivity and thus for their ability to detect the coronavirus.
The result: 96 rapid antigen tests met the required criteria, some with very good results, 26 tests did not offer the required sensitivity, as can be seen from the PEI report.
But the following applies to every corona test: One hundred percent security cannot be given.
Even with high quality tests, false positive or false negative results can occur.
Therefore, doctors and the responsible health authorities recommend that you always back up a test result with a follow-up test if you show corona symptoms.
A student does a rapid corona test before the first lesson at a school.
Schoolchildren are among the most frequently tested groups in Germany.
But do common rapid tests also recognize the Omicron virus variant?
© Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
The question of whether corona tests also detect the currently rapidly spreading and highly contagious Omicron virus variant is currently in the room.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach would like to create as much clarity as possible by having a list of particularly suitable tests drawn up.
As
quoted by
Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) Lauterbach, he had the Paul Ehrlich Institute on January 9, 2022 “
prepare a positive list with tests that are particularly suitable for Omikron or that recognize Omikron well
”.
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These corona tests detect the omicron variant
According to the PEI, the majority of the corona rapid tests offered in Germany should also be suitable for detecting the new Omikron variant, the
BR
informs .
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, this means in figures that 80 percent of the rapid antigen tests checked can reliably detect the Omikron variant.
Sandra Ciesek, Director of the Institute for Medical Virology at the University Hospital Frankfurt and Isabella Eckerle, Head of the Infectious Diseases Department in the Department of Medical Specialties at the University Clinics in Geneva,
have analyzed various rapid test products for their Omikron sensitivity.
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The experts examined omicron samples from the nose and throat using rapid tests.
The following manufacturers therefore offer corona rapid tests that can detect Omicron infections:
Roche
Siemens
Flowflex
Abbott
Acon Biotech
Remier Medical Corporation
CTK Biotech
As
Der Spiegel
further reports, a paper by the UK Health Security Agency from mid-December 2021 states that “preliminary laboratory data show that these devices detect Omicron”.
However, further data would have to be awaited for a more precise assessment.
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