Illustration of an antigen test diagnosis .. -

G. Durand / 20 Minutes

  • After the PCR tests and the antigenic tests, the self-tests have just been authorized by the Haute Autorité de Santé.

  • After this positive opinion, it remains for the legislator to specify many details, in particular the brands marketed, the price, the reimbursement, the necessary support.

  • How to carry out a self-test with care?

    Who can buy it?

    20 Minutes

    takes stock of what we know (for the moment).

A coffee, a croissant, and a cotton swab in your nose?

Self-tests were authorized in France on Tuesday by the Haute Autorité de Santé.

These antigenic tests, which can be carried out alone and at home, will tell you in a quarter of an hour if you are infected and contagious with Covid-19.

A complementary tool to PCR tests which could improve screening at a time when the Prime Minister speaks of "third wave".

20 Minutes

takes stock of what we know about these self-tests.

Who can use it?

According to the opinion issued by the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), self-tests by nasal swab, intended to detect a Covid-19 infection, can be used by all French people over the age of 15, whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic.

Why this age limit?

"There are no efficacy data in children under 15," underlined Mathieu Carbonneil, of the HAS.

As with the antigenic tests done at the pharmacy, if it is positive, you must then do an RT-PCR test to confirm the result.

How to get it?

Jérôme Salomon announced last weekend that these self-tests would be available this week.

But after the green light from HAS, the government has yet to ratify this decision.

And specify a certain amount of information via a decree: the labeled brands, the price, the reimbursement, the places of distribution… The General Directorate of Health (DGS) should give details in the coming days.

“We are ready,” assures Xavier Guérin, president of Innova Medical Group for Europe, one of the groups on the starting line to market these self-tests.

The HAS has given an opinion, then the regulations must set it to music.

Jérôme Salomon had announced that these self-tests would be sold in pharmacies, but also in supermarkets.

Carrefour says it has ordered a million, and Système U has also expressed interest.

In Germany, supermarkets were robbed from the first weekend of authorization ... As for the price, we know that our German neighbors sell these self-tests around 5 euros (24.99 euros for five tests at Aldi and 21.99 euros at Lidl).

How to carry out a self-test?

The nasal swab is shallower (3-4 cm) and less unpleasant than the nasopharyngeal swab for classic RT-PCR tests.

The HAS advises to make 5 rotations with the cotton swab before removing it, without further details.

For his part, Xavier Guérin explains that it is necessary "to turn the swab ten times in one nostril, then in the other".

Second step: six drops of the reagent are poured into a flexible tube, into which the swab is slipped.

Then two small drops of the mixture are placed in the "well" - the small hole - of the test strip.

You just have to wait between 15 and 30 minutes to interpret the result.

Just like a pregnancy test, if you have a trait, you are negative;

if two test strips are displayed, you have the coronavirus.

And if no colored line is visible, the self-test is deficient, so it will be necessary to redo one.

How reliable are they?

Self-tests are already available in Germany, as has been said, but also in Austria, the Netherlands, and for a few days in England.

"They have several advantages, but their deployment is only relevant if they meet minimum requirements, so as not to wrongly reassure people who are carriers of the virus," warns HAS in a press release.

A point already raised for antigenic tests in pharmacies, less reliable but faster than PCR.

“Do not confuse: it is a screening test, not a medical one, insists Xavier Guérin, from Innova Medical Group.

It says if you are contagious, when a PCR test says if you are infected.

»Useful information before going to his parents at risk or to the restaurant (if a semblance of normal life returns one day).

"Efficiencies can drop to 50%, but go up to 90% if they are well done," assures Xavier Guérin.

The real question will be that of “supporting” patients ”.

Especially for the follow-up.

“Today, the regulations require that the results of the tests go back to the SIDEP database to produce national statistics, which are important for monitoring the epidemic.

But will the French pass on this information, and how?

Some laboratories offer an application to explain how to perform the self-test step by step and how to react if it is positive.

Prudent, the HAS underlined that “the follow-up of the performances of these tests under the real conditions of use is essential.

The HAS will be able to update these criteria following an exhaustive analysis of the data in the current literature.

"

What will be their use?

Quick and simple, these self-tests will complete the screening offer.

They could therefore be ideal for repeated use before going to the office, the cinema or a family reunion.

“It's a solution that brings a huge plus, but it will not solve everything, recognizes Xavier Guérin.

All studies show that the speed of the test is more important than its sensitivity.

If you are in a transmission phase, it is important to know this right away, otherwise you will infect other people.

The problem with Covid-19 is that there are between 20 to 60% of asymptomatic people.

Everyone has to be tested.

"

But they may have limited utility in the new epidemic phase we are going through.

Knowing the variant of a positive test is indeed essential today.

However, these self-tests do not go into this detail and must therefore necessarily be confirmed by PCR.

Health

Coronavirus: Are the French ready to do a PCR self-test?

Health

Coronavirus: Jérôme Salomon promises self-tests "from this week" in France

  • Screening

  • Covid 19

  • Society

  • Coronavirus

  • Health