Preliminary results of a study conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institute of Health (NIH) have revealed that home-based rapid antigen COVID-19 diagnostic testing kits are more likely to return a “false negative” against the Omicron variant of Coronavirus than other known strains.
The US researchers analyzed the samples of confirmed Omicron patients who used rapid antigen testing kits for Coronavirus diagnosis at home in order to determine the accuracy of these kits. They concluded that the sensitivity of these kits reduce against the Omicron variant and it is highly likely they could miss the infection or return a false negative.
In an official statement, the FDA advised people to continue using home-based rapid antigen COVID-19 diagnostic testing kits despite them being less sensitive and less likely to detect early infection in comparison to PCR tests.
The FDA also asked people to self-isolate and follow up with a PCR test in case they test negative from rapid antigen tests but continue to experience symptoms of the Coronavirus.
Commenting on the research, Gigi Gronvall, a senior researcher at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said that the findings of the study have once again highlighted the challenge posed by the ever-mutating Coronavirus, urging the pharmaceutical companies to ensure testing kits work against every variant.
With the Omicron variant surging all over the world including the US, the demand for home-based rapid antigen COVID-19 diagnostic testing kits has skyrocketed. It is because rapid antigen tests can be performed at home to detect the infection within minutes while PCR tests take longer to diagnose the infection and can only be performed in laboratories.