The number of Sars-CoV-2 infections is increasing. Anyone who feels sick takes a quick test, but it doesn't seem to reliably indicate whether you have Covid-19 or not. A doctor is therefore calling for more PCR tests to be carried out again. Immunologist Falk, on the other hand, points out the correct application.
According to Tübingen doctor Lisa Federle, PCR tests should be used more to detect corona infections. She became known early in the pandemic through the so-called Tübingen model with mass rapid corona tests. Federle now describes that rapid tests for her patients are often not reliable at the moment.
Many people even did several quick tests that were negative and still had obvious symptoms, she told the German Press Agency. If those affected then did a PCR test, the result is currently more positive than before, said Federle. "I would therefore wish that more PCR tests would be done again and that the reliability of these tests would be emphasized more," said the doctor.
From the point of view of Christine Falk, President of the German Society for Immunology, it is extremely important for rapid corona tests how the smear is taken. In principle, one should first swab in the throat and then in both nostrils, she explained on request. "Even if some rapid corona tests are not approved for swabs in the throat, there is nothing to prevent them from being used in this way from an immunological point of view," said Falk, who is also a member of the federal government's Corona Expert Council.
Falk emphasized that it is important for people to be aware of what a rapid corona test can and cannot do. A quick test does not show very well whether someone is currently infected. But he shows quite reliably when someone is infectious, Falk explained. "So if someone has a high viral load and could infect others with it."
Federle, on the other hand, fears that the rapid tests could give you a false sense of security, since many people are currently doing a rapid test and then visiting their grandmother, for example. It can be assumed that the corona vaccination, the swab technique and the modified virus variant would have an impact on the reliability of the rapid tests, said Federle.
However, Falk does not see a direct influence of the corona vaccination on the reliability of the rapid test. It can also be seen that the omicron variants of the corona virus currently have no influence on the reliability of the rapid tests. "After around nine months with the Omikron variants, we can see that the rapid tests are still working well in infectious people."
However, not all rapid tests worked equally well. It is therefore important to find out about the quality of the tests, said Falk. There is an overview of this at the Paul Ehrlich Institute.
