Efficacy watchwords to look out for as Covid testing kits make their way home

With Covid-19 playing havoc across the world and people rushing to be tested and vaccinated, the healthcare industry has been overwhelmingly burdened in bearing the brunt of the panic of people.

This sparked the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to approve CoviSelf, a kit specially rolled out for testing suspected Covid-19 patients, int he safety of one's home. While this has come as a huge relief to testing laboratories and medical professionals, the efficacy of the testing kit is debatable.

This self-testing kit for Covid-19 is said to sometimes indicate false reports. Doctors and medical experts say that this could on account of samples being collected incorrectly. Following the rapid antigen test method, this kit provides the result within 15 minutes of a person testing using the nasal swab. If the tested person finds the result positive, he does not need to undergo the RT-PCR test. However, doctors doubt the efficacy of this self-testing kit and advise that one should watch out if he or she tests negative and should anyway immediately undergo RT-PCR test.

Priced at Rs. 250, the kit comes with a pre-filled extraction tube, sterile nasal swab, testing card and a bio hazard bag. Experts suggest users to use the kit properly by inserting it well inside the nose until it gets the swab. If minimal swab is collected or not inserted properly, the result could be wrong according to experts.

The person using the Covid home kit test should also watch out for the antibody test as the positive result does not alway mean a person is currently infected. It takes the body several days after being infected to develop antibodies. A test given in too early could come back negative, even if someone has the virus.

The kit, once used, has to be sealed by the tube used and put into the bio hazard bag that comes along with the kit and disposed in biomedical waste.