January 6, 2022
Life Sciences
  • A new study raises concerns about whether at-home rapid antigen tests can detect the Omicron variant before infected people can transmit the virus to others. The study looked at 30 people who received both the antigen tests and a PCR daily test, which is believed to be more reliable. On days 0 and 1 following a positive PCR test, all of the antigen tests used produced false-negative results, even though in 28 of the 30 cases, levels of virus detected by the PCR test were high enough to infect other people. In four cases, researchers were able to confirm that infected people transmitted the virus to others during the period before they had a positive result on the rapid antigen test. (Article here)