A video on the Internet creates uncertainty: You can see how Cola triggers a positive Corona test result.
But what does it mean?
A
politician from
the right-wing populist FPÖ
carried out
a
Corona * experiment
.
He caused
a
positive
Corona
rapid test result
with
Cola
.
Simple
facts,
however, refute his
claims
.
Kassel / Vienna - He drizzles
cola
on a
corona rapid test
and after a few minutes he receives a
positive result
.
Michael Schnedlitz
, politician of the
right-wing populist party FPÖ
from Austria
wanted to reduce the informative value of the
rapid antigen tests
with this action
.
But how is his attempt to be evaluated?
Can the tests actually be manipulated?
But what happened?
On Thursday (December 10th, 2020)
Michael Schnellditz
carried out
his
experiment
in the
Austrian parliament
.
At the lectern, he drips a little
cola
onto a
rapid antigen test *
, to which a sample from the nasopharynx is usually given.
Shortly afterwards he holds up the test in a supposedly triumphant way - with a
positive result
.
This is reported by
ruhr24.de.
+
An Austrian politician made a bizarre experiment in parliament: he tested Cola positive for the corona virus and wanted to defame the tests - but experts explain the phenomenon.
(Symbol image)
© Sebastian Gollnow / Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / picture alliance
Positive corona test from cola?
Criticism from Parliament
What did the member of the
right-wing populist party
want to achieve?
Demonstrate the
supposed futility of the
corona rapid
tests, for which - according to him - too much tax money was spent.
However, his
attempt
met with
criticism
from colleagues in
Parliament
.
Alexander
Melchior
(ÖVP), for example, responded with the words: “I really don't understand what you are doing?
I was hoping it wasn't Cola, but
Bacardi-Cola
.
That would have explained your behavior! "
It
rains
violent
reactions on
social media, where the
video is
circulating
under the hashtag
#Cola
.
Many are outraged, some are smiling,
lateral thinkers
use the video as supposed proof of the unreliability of the
corona rapid tests
and others are simply unsettled and ask themselves: How much
truth
is there in this strange
experiment
?
Austria: Politician tests Cola for Corona
Maybe you should think twice about what the test was designed for!
He should have done a pregnancy test with the cola.
Oops, the Cola not only has Corona but is also pregnant!
- KSR-Racer 🇫🇷 (@berlin__bike) December 10, 2020
But the
facts
make it clear and the
explanation
for the
positive Cola test
is relatively simple.
The
corona antigen test
reacts to
proteins
that are characteristic of the
virus
.
Unlike the
PCR test
, which has to be evaluated in the laboratory and
looks for
the
genetic material of
the
pathogen
.
The
meaningfulness of
the demonstration by the FPÖ politician is therefore
zero
.
But why does the
rapid
test
react
to
cola
as if the sample had been
taken from
a
corona-positive
person and tested?
Cola has a low
pH value
, so it is acidic.
The acid in the drink ensures that instead of the
corona virus,
the acid docks onto the proteins and breaks them down.
Corona: rapid test with positive Covid-19 result from cola
"This causes the test strip to
change color
,
" explains Christoph
Pedain
, head of the patient-centered diagnostics division at Siemens Healthineers, to the
dpa.
The Austrian politician and supporter of the right-wing populist party
Schedlitz
had only proven that the
proteins
on the
test strip had been destroyed
.
The
expert
assures: "The bizarre
experiment
has
no relevance
for the test practice in humans, unless you rinse your nose with
cola
before a test
".
Similar attempts could, for example,
produce
a
positive pregnancy test
even though one is not pregnant at all.
(Theresa Lippe)
* hna.de and ruhr24.de are part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network.
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List of rubric lists: © Sebastian Gollnow / Karl-Josef Hildenbrand / picture alliance