Massively test the population to get out of confinement. The formula now seems inevitable. The Minister of Health Olivier Véran has also announced the order of two million serological tests, which must allow through a blood test to know if an individual has been infected by the coronavirus and has produced antibodies. Problem: no existing test has yet received the green light from the health authorities. "All of them declare that they are CE marked, but that does not mean anything in relation to the reliability of the test. We think that the majority comes from China", explains on Europe 1 Thursday Professor Samira Fafi-Kremer of the Strasbourg CHU who tests different rapid test kits.
"They don't have the reliability of a real laboratory test"
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The thirty test models currently on the market are therefore all, for the moment, being evaluated in virology laboratories. "For the three we tested, they are good enough for rapid tests done in 10-15 minutes, but they do not have the reliability of a real test carried out in the laboratory," adds Samira Fafi-Kremer.
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In 20% of cases, there is a diagnostic error according to the work of his laboratory. A percentage still too high to guarantee a safe exit from confinement.
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"We know that there are people to whom we will say: 'You are positive, it's good, you have antibodies', and they will think they are protected. Finally they will spread the virus because they think that there is no risk ", confirms as it stands Lionel Barrand, president of the union of young medical biologists.
In a few days, we should however see the arrival on the market of behemoths, large manufacturers around the world, who have been able to do for example the HIV test. What hope for more reliable tools to arrive quickly to a massive screening.
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When these tests show that over 60% of French people have been infected with the virus, the spread of Covid-19 will be stopped and the population as a whole will be immunized.