SAMBALPUR: In a bid to check the spread of coronavirus, the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences And Research (VIMSAR), Burla has started antigen testing. In the last two months, there have been several instances where patients were found Covid-19 positive after being admitted to the hospital. Consequently, many doctors and paramedical staff had to be quarantined which affected healthcare delivery at the Government-run hospital. Besides, these incidents also put both doctors and other patients at the risk of being infected with the virus.
Nodal Officer of Covid testing laboratory in VIMSAR Sudarshan Pothal said, “Antigen test is a faster option for detecting the presence of Covid- 19 virus in a patient’s body compared to RT-PCR which takes hours. The test results from the antigen kits can be obtained within 15-30 minutes. This will definitely help as we can test patients at the time of admission and take prompt action accordingly.” The accuracy rate of detecting positive patients through antigen test is high but there are chances of getting false negative report since it is not as sensitive as RT-PCR tests.
In such a situation, the patient might have to undergo RTPCR test after antigen test to confirm that the result is negative. Otherwise, the test is time saving and feasible, he said. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has prescribed certain criteria for people who can be tested through the antigen method. Patients with comorbidities, HIV, cancer and coming from high-risk zones and hotspots besides asymptomatic highrisk patients who are hospitalised or seeking critical care can undergo antigen tests. The test can be conducted using the same nasal or throat swab sample. Till Monday evening, 25 samples have been tested in this method at VIMSAR.