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The use of self-tests, to do yourself, which would allow with a simple prick at the tip of the finger to quickly know if we made antibodies against the new coronavirus, is “premature”, estimated, this Monday, the Haute Health authority (HAS).
Self-tests are “today difficult to interpret” and their “performance is uneven”, underlines the HAS which noted that “to date there is very little scientific data on the performance of self-tests for the diagnosis of Covid-19 in real life. “
In addition to this uncertainty about reliability, there is a “difficulty of use”: if the taking of the sample is simple (the patient performs it alone, at home, by pricking the fingertip), it is not the case for reading and interpreting the result. “Without support, the patient takes the risk of drawing the wrong conclusions from this test,” said the organization. “It is not as simple as reading a pregnancy test,” said Dr. Cédric Carbonneil, head of the HAS professional services assessment service.
The HAS released, on Monday, a report on the place of rapid serological tests which give results in a few minutes: rapid diagnostic tests (RDT in the laboratory), rapid diagnostic orientation tests (TROD: positive, they must be confirmed in laboratory), and self-tests.
Thanks to their greater speed of use and the little material required to carry them out, these unit tests would be accessible throughout the territory, including in cities with only a local medical biology laboratory, without technical platform. heavy, she notes.
But whatever the serological test, there is still uncertainty about the protection, immunity against the virus, which would guarantee the presence of antibodies, and if so, over its duration. “This is why, in the current state of knowledge, these tests do not yet have a place in the identification of persons protected against the virus,” said HAS.
Only validated serological tests will be reimbursed
However, by identifying people who are or have been infected with the virus, serological tests can be used for epidemiological surveillance of the disease; as well as the diagnostic strategy, in addition to the virological test (by RT-PCR) which remains the first-line test for the diagnosis of the acute phase of Covid-19 disease. Note: only validated serological tests will be reimbursed. The French who went to do a serological test directly at the analysis laboratory will therefore have to check the name of the kit used – it must appear on the report – and compare it with the list of validated tests that the Ministry of Health will put in line.
“Potentially, several million people” are affected by serological tests: those who have had symptoms but who have not had a virological test; those for whom the negative virological test is contradictory with suggestive symptoms, the caregivers and staff of collective accommodation places (Ephad, prisons, university residences, etc.) who have been in contact with people affected.
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