By Christelle D'Sa (Class of 2022)
By now, you have most likely taken some kind of COVID-19 test, whether it be to travel somewhere or just to attend school. There are many types of testing methods and each one has its upsides and downsides. Currently, COVID-19 tests fall into two main categories: molecular tests and antigen tests (Cleveland Clinic 2021).
The molecular tests look for the virus’s genetic material in nasal or throat swabs or saliva samples (Winny 2020). Since they are looking at the genetic material of the virus, these tests are very accurate and generally do not produce false negatives. However, for some tests like PCR tests, the results can take a day or two to arrive (Winny 2020). There is some delay in getting results because the results need to be processed in a laboratory. So, these molecular tests are best conducted a few days before results are needed. Additionally, the results cannot be gathered in a few minutes, so these testing methods would not be able to test a large number of people quickly. For example, molecular tests would not be very useful for quickly admitting people into a large baseball stadium or concert because the results are only available after a few days. On the other hand, they are more useful for trips that are planned far in advance such as trips that require people to go to the airport.
Antigen tests produce results more quickly than molecular tests. They are done through a nasal or throat swab and the results arrive in fifteen to thirty minutes (Winny 2020). Antigen tests are useful for testing people when they arrive at an event or venue because people would simply have to test and wait a few extra minutes for their results. However, these antigen tests are less accurate than the molecular tests, as false negatives are common (UC Davis Health 2020). Thus, antigen tests should only be limited to people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine so that if they do contract the virus, they will have less severe symptoms and have less chance of being admitted to the hospital.
Antibody tests simply test for the presence of antibodies against COVID-19 (Winny 2020). The presence of antibodies in a person’s blood does not tell anyone whether or not they currently have COVID-19; rather, it only shows whether the individual has contracted COVID-19 in the past. Therefore, this test would not be very useful in testing for active COVID-19 virus in the person’s body. An antigen test’s results should not be used to grant people access to large venues and events because it cannot detect whether the person currently has COVID-19.
The most recent form of a COVID-19 test is the COVID-19 breathalyzer. Scientists have created a breathalyzer that can detect whether someone has COVID-19 in less than five minutes (Shi Leong et al. 2022). This test would be very useful in large settings because of its quick turnaround time, allowing people who are waiting to enter a venue to quickly know whether or not they will be let in. The test is also very accurate and has a low false negative rate (Shi Leong et al. 2022). Thus, public spaces should use the COVID-19 breathalyzer to help slow the spread of the disease. If it can be manufactured cheaply and distributed widely, the breathalyzer may be the best testing method.
The type of COVID test that should be taken depends on what the test is being taken for, and if the test recipient is at high risk for contracting COVID-19. Therefore, it is important to consider these factors when deciding whether to do a molecular, antigen, antibody, or breathalyzer COVID-19 test.
References:
Cleveland Clinic (2021, September 15). Understanding the Different Types of COVID-19 Tests. Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/different-types-of-covid-19-tests/
Leong, S. X., Leong, Y. X., Tan, E. X., Sim H. Y. F., Koh, C. S. L., Lee, Y. H., Chong, C., Ng, L. S., Chen, J. R. T., Pang, D. W. C., Nguyen, L. B. T., Boong, S. K., Han X., Kao, Y., Chua, Y. H., Phan-Quang, G. C., Phang, I. Y., Lee, H. K., Abdad, M. Y., . . . Ling, X. Y. (2022). Noninvasive and Point-of-Care Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS)-Based Breathalyzer for Mass Screening of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) under 5 min, ACS NANO, 16(2), 2629-2639. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.1c09371
UC Davis Health (2020, November 12). Different types of COVID-19 tests explained. UC Davis Health. https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/different-types-of-covid-19-tests-explained/2020/11
Winny, A. (2020, November 2). What Are All the Different Kinds of COVID-19 Tests?. John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2020/what-are-all-the-different-kinds-of-covid-19-tests
Cover Picture:
dronepicr. (2020). Covid19 Antigen Rapid Test Kit [Image]. flickr.com. https://www.flickr.com/photos/132646954@N02/50687305018/
The molecular tests look for the virus’s genetic material in nasal or throat swabs or saliva samples (Winny 2020). Since they are looking at the genetic material of the virus, these tests are very accurate and generally do not produce false negatives. However, for some tests like PCR tests, the results can take a day or two to arrive (Winny 2020). There is some delay in getting results because the results need to be processed in a laboratory. So, these molecular tests are best conducted a few days before results are needed. Additionally, the results cannot be gathered in a few minutes, so these testing methods would not be able to test a large number of people quickly. For example, molecular tests would not be very useful for quickly admitting people into a large baseball stadium or concert because the results are only available after a few days. On the other hand, they are more useful for trips that are planned far in advance such as trips that require people to go to the airport.
Antigen tests produce results more quickly than molecular tests. They are done through a nasal or throat swab and the results arrive in fifteen to thirty minutes (Winny 2020). Antigen tests are useful for testing people when they arrive at an event or venue because people would simply have to test and wait a few extra minutes for their results. However, these antigen tests are less accurate than the molecular tests, as false negatives are common (UC Davis Health 2020). Thus, antigen tests should only be limited to people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine so that if they do contract the virus, they will have less severe symptoms and have less chance of being admitted to the hospital.
Antibody tests simply test for the presence of antibodies against COVID-19 (Winny 2020). The presence of antibodies in a person’s blood does not tell anyone whether or not they currently have COVID-19; rather, it only shows whether the individual has contracted COVID-19 in the past. Therefore, this test would not be very useful in testing for active COVID-19 virus in the person’s body. An antigen test’s results should not be used to grant people access to large venues and events because it cannot detect whether the person currently has COVID-19.
The most recent form of a COVID-19 test is the COVID-19 breathalyzer. Scientists have created a breathalyzer that can detect whether someone has COVID-19 in less than five minutes (Shi Leong et al. 2022). This test would be very useful in large settings because of its quick turnaround time, allowing people who are waiting to enter a venue to quickly know whether or not they will be let in. The test is also very accurate and has a low false negative rate (Shi Leong et al. 2022). Thus, public spaces should use the COVID-19 breathalyzer to help slow the spread of the disease. If it can be manufactured cheaply and distributed widely, the breathalyzer may be the best testing method.
The type of COVID test that should be taken depends on what the test is being taken for, and if the test recipient is at high risk for contracting COVID-19. Therefore, it is important to consider these factors when deciding whether to do a molecular, antigen, antibody, or breathalyzer COVID-19 test.
References:
Cleveland Clinic (2021, September 15). Understanding the Different Types of COVID-19 Tests. Cleveland Clinic. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/different-types-of-covid-19-tests/
Leong, S. X., Leong, Y. X., Tan, E. X., Sim H. Y. F., Koh, C. S. L., Lee, Y. H., Chong, C., Ng, L. S., Chen, J. R. T., Pang, D. W. C., Nguyen, L. B. T., Boong, S. K., Han X., Kao, Y., Chua, Y. H., Phan-Quang, G. C., Phang, I. Y., Lee, H. K., Abdad, M. Y., . . . Ling, X. Y. (2022). Noninvasive and Point-of-Care Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS)-Based Breathalyzer for Mass Screening of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) under 5 min, ACS NANO, 16(2), 2629-2639. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.1c09371
UC Davis Health (2020, November 12). Different types of COVID-19 tests explained. UC Davis Health. https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/different-types-of-covid-19-tests-explained/2020/11
Winny, A. (2020, November 2). What Are All the Different Kinds of COVID-19 Tests?. John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2020/what-are-all-the-different-kinds-of-covid-19-tests
Cover Picture:
dronepicr. (2020). Covid19 Antigen Rapid Test Kit [Image]. flickr.com. https://www.flickr.com/photos/132646954@N02/50687305018/
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