During the Covid-19 pandemic, Indian authorities have insisted on using more expensive but more accurate RT-PCR tests instead of cheaper but less sensitive rapid antigen test (RAT) to fill the loopholes in the test.
But now, a team of researchers from Sonipat Ashoka University and the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore have used computational models to show that even the wise use of rapid antigen testing (RAT) can produce good results from an epidemiological perspective. If the test is done proportionally.
This paper, written by Philip Cherian and Gautam Menon of Ashoka University and Sudeep Krishna of NCBS, was published in the PLoS Journal of Computational Biology on Thursday.
However, scientists insist on some conditions. First, RAT should have reasonable sensitivity, more people should be tested (approximately 0.5% of the population per day), those who have received testicles should be isolated until results are available, and testing should be accompanied by other non-drugs wearing masks and keeping body distance And other interventions.
“At the peak of the pandemic, we should conduct five times more (RAT) tests than today. This is about 80 to 9 million tests per day. But when the number of cases decreases, on average, you can reduce tests,” Menon told BusinessLine.
Although RT-PCR tests are more sensitive than rapid antigen tests, they are more expensive and do not provide immediate results. Therefore, the precise combination of tests required to optimize the results while considering cost constraints has been unclear.
During the Covid pandemic, different states of India have been using different RT-PCR and RAT combinations. Many countries are increasingly relying on less sensitive RATs—because they are much cheaper than RT-PCR—which is the point of contention between them and the Federal Ministry of Health.
Their analysis showed that in terms of identifying total infections, using only rapid antigen testing can achieve results similar to those using RT-PCR only—as long as the number of people tested is large enough. This suggests that governments in low- and middle-income countries may be able to increase testing by focusing on using less sensitive tests that provide immediate results, rather than supporting RT-PCR to achieve the best results.
The author suggests that the government should continue to explore different test combinations. Given that the cost of testing is declining, this combination can also be recalibrated periodically to monitor what is the most economical.
“Testing is constantly improving, and the trade-offs are good for quick testing, even if it’s not that sensitive,” Menon said. “Modeling the impact of using different test combinations, while keeping in mind their relative costs, can suggest specific policy changes that will have a major impact on changing the trajectory of the epidemic.”
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Post time: Jul-26-2021