Virologist calls new rapid test data in BR "sobering" - and slaps off intentional corona plugs
Created: 02/14/2022, 10:05 am
By: Franziska Schwarz
Oliver Keppler (l.) reports in the BR “Rundschau” on investigations into rapid corona tests.
© Screenshot: BR24 Rundschau
Quickly to the drugstore or to the test center before visiting the grandparents?
Oliver Keppler warns against relying too much on quick tests in the fifth wave.
Munich – The pictures have accompanied the pandemic since the beginning: larger gatherings despite Corona.
In view of the omicron wave, are Oliver Keppler worried about full tables, full halls, full rooms?
Will easing in Germany come too early?
The Munich virologist now showed a completely different opinion on the question than his colleague Klaus Stöhr - albeit while he was presenting new findings on PCR tests.
They could convey a false sense of security in everyday life, he says.
In the fifth wave, you need the “right balance” between caution in view of the infection process and hope for steps towards normality, said Keppler in the “Rundschau” (BR) on Saturday.
And unlike Stöhr, he judged: "Germany has done very well so far."
Then Keppler came to talk about the latest data from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
His institute examined the reliability of rapid antigen tests at Omikron: "The result was sobering." Eight out of nine rapid tests that are very commonly used in Germany were less able to detect an infection with this corona variant than one with Delta.
The study is currently being reviewed and will be published this week, according
to
br24.de.
Virologist Keppler: "Negative rapid test no free ticket"
According to Keppler, only two of the tests were within a “reasonable range” for the higher viral load range.
But even in the second highest viral load category, even these supposedly good tests would only have detected ten percent of the infections.
In this case, do two or three quick tests in a row offer more security? The “Rundschau” moderator wanted to know.
Keppler also advised caution with this “strategy”.
A negative rapid test is never a “free ticket”.
Especially in the early phase of the infection, these tests often fail and offer no guarantee that vulnerable groups will not be infected.
Warns of rapid corona tests as a “free ticket”: Munich virologist Oliver Keppler © Screenshot: BR24 Rundschau
Corona warning app on red: Munich virologist recommends “AHA rule”
More and more people are seeing the red warning in their Corona app.
What to do then was another question.
About daily testing?
"Here you have to take a step back and see that there are other precautionary measures," said Keppler, referring to the well-known rules: masks especially indoors, frequent airing - especially in the office.
"And if you really want to know: Then please do a PCR, the large German laboratories have sufficient capacity to give feedback within a day," he recommended.
However, new rules have been in effect for free PCR tests in this country since Saturday (February 12).
Keppler and Ciesek agree: Intentional corona infection is dangerous
Also a constant since the beginning of the pandemic: reports about people who intentionally get infected with Corona.
Like his colleague Sandra Ciesek, Keppler considers this to be a dangerous attitude: "I think there is a misperception about the severity of omicron infections."
According to figures from the USA and Israel, older people who have not been vaccinated in particular get “many severe courses” and there are also many deaths.
That's why you should be careful in the next few weeks - "and then we can hopefully start the summer more relaxed.
(frs)