ICMR Issues Advisory On Antigen Detection Test For Covid-19

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has issued an advisory for carrying out antibody testing for all symptomatic individuals in coronavirus hotspots in the country.

ICMR in an advisory said that those who test negative for COVID-19 by rapid antigen test should be definitely tested sequentially by RT-PCR to rule out infection, whereas a positive test should be considered as a true positive and does not need reconfirmation by RT-PCR test

The test includes collection of only a nasopharyngeal swab and can be interpreted as positive or negative between 15 and 30 minutes. After that the test strip should be discarded. The test kit should be stored between 2deg to 30deg C.

ICMR  noted that the testing kits may be used in containment zones or hotspots for all symptomatic patients with illnesses like the influenza, asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts with co-morbidities of confirmed cases.

In hospitals, the tests are supposed to be used for those symptomatic influenza-like illness patients and asymptomatics, who are admitted or seeking admission for chemotherapy, among other reasons.