(Illustrative photo) Covid-19 serology tests are useful in very specific cases, according to HAS. – NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP
The High Authority for Health (HAS) presented this Saturday the cases where serological tests are useful in the fight against
Covid-19, to confirm a diagnosis or for nursing staff and group accommodation. HAS has focused on tests carried out in a medical biology laboratory, called ELISA, and will give another opinion on rapid diagnostic tests or self-tests “in eight or ten days”, also said the president of HAS , Dominique Le Guludec, during an online press conference.
Serological tests are a complement to virological tests, which make it possible to make a diagnosis and to tell if a patient is infected when they are carried out. Serological laboratory tests are carried out by “taking a blood sample and seek to detect the antibodies that the body produces against a virus”, said Dominique Le Guludec.
Tests not recommended for “screening in the general population”
They are “very precious and already answer many questions,” she continued. They make it possible to know if a person is sick or has been sick, “to complete or confirm the diagnosis”. They are also useful ” when there are no symptoms (…) for the staff of health establishments or collective accommodation “such as
Ehpad, prisons, barracks, university residences…
“Finally, we say yes for epidemiological studies because it helps to better understand the epidemic, it helps to predict what will happen and to make the right decisions,” continued Dominique Le Guludec.
On the other hand, they do not allow to say if a person is contagious or if he is protected against the coronavirus. “Today, no serological test is able to deliver you the immune passport that everyone dreams of deconfinement,” she said. Consequently, these tests are not recommended for “screening in the general population,” said Ms. Le Guludec. The HAS excludes them from “organizing work within a company,” according to a press release.
For children or people who have had to work, “as long as we do not have the scientific information that people who have antibodies to the virus are protected, the intensity and duration of protection , there is no point in using these serological tests, ”added Cédric Carbonneil, head of the service for professional procedures at HAS. They must be made with a prescription, according to the HAS and ideally be reimbursed. Results are available within 24 hours maximum.
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