What is CoviSelf, when to self-test, and how it fares vs other Covid-19 tests

On Wednesday May 20 the Indian Council of Medical Research ICMR approved a Covid19 selftesting kit for home use a first for India In simple terms symptomatic individuals and those around them can use the kit as guided by ICMR to test their nasal swabs for Covid19 without having to call healthcare professionalsThis DIY kit uses the rapid antigen test process It is should be noted that rapid antigen tests reportedly come with a high probability of showing false negatives Last year the ICMR in an advisory had stated ldquoThere are no reliable antigen detection tests available worldwide which could be used as rapid point of care tests for quick detection of Covid19 positive patientsrdquoHere is a breakdown of everything you need to know about this selftesting kit and other existing Covid19 testsWhat is the ICMRapproved selftesting kitThe kit is called CoviSelf and had been developed by MyLab Discovery Solutions a Punebased molecular biology company The firm had also been the first in the country to produce RTPCR kits last year Until now in India Covid19 tests had only been conducted by health professionals CoviSelf uses a rapid antigen process in which a nasal swab sample can be tested for the virus at home and the result is obtained within 15 minutes For more details visit httpstcodI1pqvXAsZ PMOIndia ICMRFIGHTSCOVID19 IndiaFightsCOVID19 pictwittercommembV3hPbXmdash ICMR ICMRDELHI May 19 2021When should the test be takenThe ICMR has advised against indiscriminate Covid19 home testing using Rapid Antigen Tests RATs saying it should be used only on symptomatic individuals and on the immediate contacts of laboratoryconfirmed positive casesHow does it workThe kit comprises a prefilled extraction tube sterile nasal swab instruction manual a testing card and biohazard bag The individuals details have to be entered on a CoviSelf app which will reportedly store data on a secure server connected with the ICMR portal where all test reports are available to governmentAfter sanitising their hands and surfaces the individual will have to insert the swab without touching its head 24 cm into their nose and swirl it well inside each nostril to collect the specimen The swab will have to be dipped inside an extraction tube to mix with the liquid inside The tube will have to be tightly shut and two drops from the extraction tubersquos outlet be put onto the testing card After you are done seal the tube and swab in the biohazard bag and dispose it off as biomedical wasteThe result is said to be obtained within 15 minutes If two lines appear on the testing card as specified it means a person is positive If a single line appears the person is negative If it takes more than 20 minutes to show then the test is invalidWhat happens after the resultsAs stated by ICMR in an advisory ldquoAll individuals who test positive through the RAT kit may be considered as true positives and no repeat testing is requiredrdquo It continued ldquoAll symptomatic individuals who test negative by RAT should get themselves immediately tested by RTPCR This is especially important as the RATs are likely to miss few positive cases presenting with a low viral loadrdquo The advisory also stated ldquoAll RAT negative symptomatic individuals may be treated as suspect Covid19 cases and are advised to follow the ICMRMinistry of Health home isolation protocol while awaiting the RTPCR test resultrdquoWhat is the price of the kit and where can one buy itThe cost of the kit is Rs 250 and it will be available by end of next week in pharmacies and online platformsHow reliable is selftestingIn March 2020 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control released a document on selftests for Covid19 It had stated that ldquoThe reliability of the test result depends on a few factors the ability of the person taking the sample and performing the test to follow instructions the viral load at the time of the sampling and the disease prevalence in the population when the test is takenrdquoThe report said that it can support detecting the disease but it cannot be a substitute for traditional testing ldquoShifting the responsibility of reporting test results from health professionals and laboratories to individuals could lead to underreporting and make response measures such as contract tracing and quarantine of contacts even more challengingrdquoWhat are the different types of Covid19 tests that have been in use so farRTPCR reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction One of the most common tests being conducted in India is the RTPCR This test requires collecting nasal and throat swabs by healthcare professionals and is used to directly detect the presence of the virus rather than antibodiesRapid antibody test Antibody tests require a blood sample to determine whether the human body has antibodies for coronavirus It is not 100 per cent reliable Last year in April the ICMR had issued a notice which stated that this test is ldquoa supplementary tool to assess the prevalence of the diseases within a specified areaperimeterrdquo It also stated that it cannot ldquoreplace real time PCR based molecular testrdquoRapid antigen tests Similar to the RTPCR test Nasal swabs are collected and tested for antigens Antigens refers to any substance in the body that generates an immune responseWith inputs from PTI ANIDisclaimer This article is not a medical advice Please contact your doctor about medical proceduresAlso Read Explained What is 2DG how effective is the new antiCovid drug and is its use advised