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Corona rapid test for at home: the challenge is the correct sampling
Photo: Christopher Hopefitch / Getty Images
If you ask Christian Lindner, the federal government should wake up quickly.
The "certain drowsiness" that would have shown itself during the vaccination, complained the FDP boss in the ARD program "Anne Will", now repeat itself in self and rapid tests.
In fact, there are certain parallels.
While countries like Great Britain and Israel have already vaccinated a large part of the people in the country against the virus, Germany ranks more in the middle in a European comparison.
Now the Federal Republic of Germany could also fall behind in rapid tests for home use, especially when compared to Austria.
But the Federal Republic wants to catch up quickly, at least that's what Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn is planning.
The result comes after just 15 minutes, and the tested person can isolate himself immediately
According to some experts, the importance of rapid tests can even be compared to that of vaccinations when it comes to containing the pandemic.
Because if they reliably detect highly contagious people, they could reliably break chains of infection and function like a kind of Covid-19 filter, according to a discussion in the New England Journal of Medicine at the end of November.
One of the authors is the well-known US epidemiologist Michael Mina.
He does not see the fact that rapid tests are not as reliable as complex PCR tests in the laboratory as a problem.
The main thing is that they provide a result quickly, are significantly cheaper and, above all, recognize the infected, who carry a particularly large number of viruses and are therefore more likely to infect others.
The result comes after just 15 minutes, and the tested person can isolate himself immediately.
It often takes days before the result of a PCR test is available.
Valuable time during which the virus can spread unnoticed.
Austria hopes to deal with the pandemic with extensive tests without further lockdowns.
There are now many ways to get tested for free.
There will be two million tests this week alone.
Austria is not even aiming for a low incidence value.
The main thing is that the situation remains as stable as it is now.
The incidence is currently around 107, but it is being relaxed.
Schoolchildren in Austria can already test themselves for the coronavirus, from March the lay tests for the living room will be distributed free of charge via pharmacies.
Why is that not also possible in Germany?
Theoretically, home tests are also allowed in this country.
The Federal Ministry of Health had decided on a regulation specifically for this.
In reality, it is not worth much so far because such tests are not yet available.
There is too much concern that something could go wrong when taking the sample and the result would become unusable.
So far available rapid tests are therefore reserved for medical staff.
Providers also advertise corona tests for at home on the Internet.
However, the buyer can hardly check how good these are.
And what use is a test if the result cannot be relied on?
Everything should be different in March.
Then the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) wants to grant special approval for the first corona home tests.
Around 30 applications from manufacturers have already been submitted.
"Checked and approved as soon as possible"
Then, according to Health Minister Spahn, they should be given at a low cost of one euro.
"These tests can contribute to a safe everyday life, especially in schools and daycare centers," said Spahn.
They would be "checked and approved as quickly as possible."
Why wasn't that possible earlier?
The Federal Ministry of Health explains the matter as follows: Unlike in Austria, Germany
does not
want to
rely solely on the information provided by the manufacturer
.
Instead, the tests should be evaluated themselves.
In fact, the BfArM and the Paul Ehrlich Institute have been checking for a long time whether the tests they have developed actually deliver what manufacturers promise.
A list shows which tests are reliable.
The problem with the tests for at home is not the technical evidence itself, which works for you in the same way as with professional quick tests.
The challenge is the correct sampling.
A deep swab of the nose and throat, which is necessary for many tests, is uncomfortable.
Performing it on yourself without previous experience, despite the nausea, is therefore considered unlikely.
It will therefore be decisive whether the samples can also be taken differently and whether the tests still work reliably.
Checking this takes time.
Nevertheless, manufacturers criticize bureaucratic hurdles.
The managing director of Nal von Minden, which specializes in medical tests, called for the rapid test developed by the company to be approved more quickly.
Special approval is faster than usual
It could even have taken longer for rapid tests to hit the market.
Because such tests actually have to be checked beforehand by an independent body such as the TÜV.
Only then is there the crucial CE certification.
In urgent cases - such as in a pandemic - the Bfarm can, however, issue special approval.
In this case, the CE certification can be submitted later.
However, the approval should not expire without a check.
Because an unreliable test could do more harm than good.
However, less unpleasant sampling has already proven to be as reliable as taking deep swabs from the nose and throat.
Only recently, researchers from the Charité and Heidelberg University Hospital reported that even lay people are able to take swabs if they only have to insert the test stick into the front part of the nose.
146 adults took part in the study.
They all had symptoms suggestive of Covid-19.
Professional rapid tests gave a positive result in 34.
In the lay tests, 33 infections were detected - one less.
The test person who was not identified as infected did not have as many viruses in the throat and nose, an indication that they may have been less contagious.
The results suggest that even lay quick tests can reliably detect contagious cases in particular.
However, they do not offer absolute security.
And the number of test subjects is rather small at 146 and the results are only available as a preprint so far.
That is, they have not yet been tested by independent scientists.
Distance, mask, hygiene, ventilation and contact restrictions cannot replace rapid tests.
And a
positive rapid test must always be confirmed by a PCR test
.
However, another study in the “European Respiratory Journal” had shown that smears from the anterior nasal and throat areas can provide reliable results.
Sampling is as easy as popping, advertise manufacturers of such tests.
"I'll put it this way: Anyone can spit"
Family Minister Franziska Giffey (SPD)
Gargle and spit tests are also being worked on.
All you have to do is spit into a tube or use a stick to collect saliva from your tongue.
Federal Family Minister Franziska Giffey (SPD) referred to a day care center in Potsdam that she had attended herself.
There, the teachers are regularly examined for the coronavirus with a spit test.
"Let me put it this way: Anyone can spit," said Giffey, and asked for more rapid tests to be used.
"We have to invest time and energy."
Green boss Robert Habeck even demanded an acceptance guarantee for self-tests.
Because, unlike with vaccines, the state does not take the risk with self-tests and buys before approval.
Habeck fears that Germany could now have to queue up when ordering.
The range of professional tests is to be expanded
However, the Association of the Diagnostics Industry (VDHG) does not consider such state preliminary contracts to be absolutely necessary.
Experience with rapid antigen tests for professional use has shown that industrial manufacturers are quickly able to deliver high-quality tests in large quantities, says association manager Martin Walger to the newspapers of the "Funke Mediengruppe".
Even before rapid tests come at home, the range of professional rapid tests is to be expanded in Germany.
Accordingly, municipalities should be able to commission test centers or pharmacies with such tests, and the federal government should assume the costs.
"Therefore, all citizens should be able to be tested free of charge by trained staff with rapid antigen tests," said Spahn to the editorial network Germany.
The planning for the rapid tests for at home is apparently slower.
The federal and state governments do not want to advise on the role such tests should play in fighting pandemics until they have been approved for the first time.
With material from agencies
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