A negative antigen test (illustration). – F. Binacchi / ANP / 20 Minutes
- Would the results of the antigen tests used for the detection of Covid-19 be falsified because they were established even before their opening?
- This is what suggests a photo relayed on social networks, showing two packages of antigenic tests labeled respectively “positive control” and “negative control”.
- But these are actually control swabs used by healthcare professionals to make sure the associated antigen tests are working well.
What can an antigen test be used for if its results are determined beforehand, even before its use by a person seeking to know if they are positive for Covid-19?
This is, in essence, the message relayed by a photo shared by many Facebook users. We see two sachets of “rapid antigenic tests for Covid-19” from the Abbott brand, one with the words “positive control”, the other with “negative control”, each one circled in blue to better jump to the eyes.
And if some Internet users do not fail to ironically underline this alleged masquerade (“Who wants to laugh? Look at this photo”), others are content to relay the cliché without the slightest comment. Even if it means confusing swabs to control the reliability of antigenic tests with… antigenic tests.
FAKE OFF
As the World Health Organization (WHO) explains on its website, in a document dedicated to the Panbio antigenic tests of the Abbott brand, these are systematically accompanied by “positive control” and “negative control” swabs, bearing the same visual as that of the viral photo.
This tutorial details step-by-step how professionals should use these two special kind of swabs: “Hold the buffer vial vertically and fill the extraction tube with buffer liquid to the fill line of the buffer tube. ” extraction, place the extraction tube in the tube holder, insert the positive or negative control swab into the buffer liquid inside the extraction tube and soak the swab for 1 minute ”…
This guide finally specifies that it is necessary “only” to use these swabs for a “control” and not to use them “for the taking of samples (of Covid-19)” on patients.
The Niort hospital center also has put online a tutorial for the use of professionals, specifying in particular the frequency with which these checks must be carried out: “In order to control the reagent kit, a negative control and a positive control (swabs provided in each box) are carried out at each opening of the reagent kit. a new batch of box or each time a new order is received if the same batch. “