What exactly is antigen detection, 6 questions to take you to a comprehensive understanding of the antigen testing

1. What is antigen testing?

Coronavirus antigen test is to test the test strip through the antigen and antibody binding reaction, convenient and quick, usually 15-20 minutes to get the results.

2. Significance of antigen testing

Nucleic acid testing remains the basis for the diagnosis of new coronavirus infections. Antigen testing can be used as an adjunctive tool to screen specific populations, which is conducive to improving the ability of "early detection".Rapid antigen nasal swab In other words, the surveillance model of "antigen screening and nucleic acid diagnosis" is being promoted. As a complementary means to nucleic acid testing, the antigen test lowers the threshold for the detection of C.pneumoniae and is conducive to improving the ability to prevent and control epidemics.

3. Is the validity of antigen testing equivalent to that of nucleic acid testing?

The specificity of antigen detection is different from nucleic acid detection. The specificity of antigen detection reagents can be up to 99%, but the antigen-antibody reaction will produce some interference and false positives, while the specificity of nucleic acid testing is 100%, which means that there are no false positives in nucleic acid amplification tests. Therefore, antigen testing cannot replace the nucleic acid amplification test as the basis of diagnosis, and the nucleic acid amplification test is still needed to confirm the infection when the antigen test reacts positively.

4. People for whom antigen testing is indicated

Persons presenting with clinical and febrile symptoms who are diagnosed within 5 days; persons under observation in isolation, including persons under observation at home, and persons entering the country from abroad for isolation observation; also close contact, sub-closely contact and closed staff in closed area outbreaks; and community residents with a need for antigenic self-testing. It is important to note that nasal swabs may be self-sampled when aged 14 years, and should be self-sampled when aged 2-14 years, with other adults performing the sampling.

5. How to use antigen detection agents

Clean develop hand health hygiene with water, soap or hand sanitizer or wear use disposable pass test data gloves. Prepare a nasopharyngeal swab, test card and tubes for extraction of different buffers. Sample the study by pressing the swab against the inner wall of the nasal cavity and rotating it in a circle 5 times. The same swab was repeated in the other nostril to complete the time sampling utilizing this important step. Insert the sampled swab into the information extraction buffer tube, the swab head needs to we can be fully immersed in the buffer, tightly against the inner wall of the swab, and rotate the swab head 10 times while the student squeezes the underside of the buffer tube directly with their hand to allow for full mixing. Gently break the swab at the breaking point, leaving the swab head inside the company tube, cap the tube, place the buffer tube vertically in the right position for itself, and let it sit for 1 minute. Place the test card horizontally between, add four drops of treated sample analysis extract to the spiking hole, wait 15-20 minutes to calculate the final result, more than 30 minutes to read the experimental results is invalid.

6. Precautions for antigen detection

Positive antigen test results in a suspected population should be followed by further nucleic acid testing. Positive results can be used for early triage and rapid treatment of suspected cases, but cannot be used as the basis for final diagnosis of coronavirus infection. Members of the public who are antigen-negative but have signs of illness should go to the health care facility of the fever clinic as soon as possible to receive treatment by nucleic acid amplification test. If it is not convenient to seek medical attention, they should stay at home and self-isolate, avoid going out, and perform self-antigen testing daily for 5 consecutive days.