Self-diagnostic test: only 5 Autonomous Communities count the positives reported by pharmacies without PCR confirmation

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The saturation of health centers and the high rate of infections by omicron, with a cumulative incidence of 14 days never seen before (2,433.94 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data from this Tuesday), is rethinking the protocols of some autonomous communities. Thus, to date,

but the first five without the need for confirmation via PCR, due to recent modifications.

Some, like Galicia, asked until a week ago for a confirmation by PCR, like the Basque Country, a requirement that is no longer necessary in any, just as they have not confirmed it in Navarra since the December bridge, when the incidence began to rise. .

In other communities, such as La Rioja, pharmacies report positives from those who take the self-diagnosis test at home, but collegiate sources do not know if they are confirmed with PCR or in what way they are counted.

to enable a system of notification of cases from the pharmacies.

Of course, the pharmacies of Catalonia are the only ones that, as a result of the agreement signed yesterday between the

notify not only the antigen tests that they have been monitoring since July in pharmacies, but

.

Criterion changes

This is not the case, however, in the other communities, where it is a requirement that the test be carried out in the pharmacy under the supervision of a pharmacist. Moreover

,

(not self-test carried out by the patient or supervised by the pharmacist), being the only community where the pharmacies carry out these certificates to be able to travel . And it is only in these cases, if they register positives, when they notify the Aragon Health Department through a platform and it is incorporated into the patient's medical history. "Until recently they were considered positive suspects and Health had to confirm it, but no longer," he explains to this medium.

.

To date, 3,542 European Covid certificates of negative diagnostic tests have been issued and,

.

In parallel, Aragón has set up a

, as is also the case in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Madrid -where pharmacies do not report positives- and almost all the autonomous communities.

Public Health Decision

These modifications of the regional protocols respond to the indications of the last document approved by the Public Health Commission on December 30

,

. The text indicates that "in this situation of such high circulation of the virus it is necessary to review the handling of cases" and, therefore, establishes that

, and that, therefore, are handled as Covid cases will

,

and in the usual notification through SIVIES to the Ministry of Health as established in article 25 on communication of data from diagnostic tests of Law 2/2021, of March 29 ".

The document adds that in said article it is indicated that

with competences in health matters of the autonomous communities will collect the data of the Covid-19 diagnostic tests indicated in their territory, which allow epidemiological follow-up, and

".

On a more technical level,

, explains to this medium that the Galician Ministry of Health reported on December 30 of

system for recording the results of the self-tests of antigens made by pharmacies. Said statement reported that "with this change it is intended that, in the event that the self-test result is positive, a confirmed positive case is directly generated in VIXIA. From now

option will no longer be operational, and the pharmacy must record the result (Positive or Negative) and the dates (date and time of the test and Date of diagnosis) in the option

(the boxes will appear in blue) ", where the pharmacist must also indicate the manufacturer of the self-test.

In Galicia, on Monday the pharmacies carried out 535 tests, of which 63 were positive

.

Despite the current high incidence, Soutelo adds that in July and August Galician pharmacies carried out up to 2,000 tests in one day.

Test demand on the rise

Meanwhile, the sale of self-diagnostic antigen tests in pharmacies continues to rise.

According to data published this Tuesday by the consulting firm Iqvia on the

, reaching a record during the holidays.

Catalonia continues to be the autonomous community with the highest sales

, concentrating 21.1% of sales in Spain, followed by

, with 17.94%, and

, with 15.49%.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• Science and Health

• Coronavirus

• Covid 19

• Infectious diseases

• Respiratory diseases

• Omicron variant

• Pharmacology

• HBPR

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