The cold can distort the result of a Covid-19 screening test

To ensure screening for Covid-19, many pharmacies have set up tents in front of their pharmacy in which they carry out the tests.

But too low a temperature can skew the result and cause a false positive, reports

.

Indeed, antigenic tests do not support the cold.

“If the tests were frozen, it completely degraded the silica matrix,” explains Ile-de-France daily Gilles Bonnefond, spokesperson for the Union of Community Pharmacists (USPO).

The tests must therefore be stored in a place where the temperature fluctuates between 2 and 30°C.

Pharmacies are closing their tents

During the screening itself, the recommended temperature should be above 7 or 8°C.

If these instructions are not followed, the result may be distorted.

However, in the tents installed outside the pharmacies, the sanitary utensils are not protected from the cold, noted

.

Faced with this difficulty specific to winter temperatures, some pharmacies have given up carrying out tests in tents.

Regarding self-tests for Covid-19, the recommendations are the same.

Gilles Bonnefond reminds that they should not be stored in a car for example, where the temperatures can drop below the limit.

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• Health

• Coronavirus

• Pharmacy

• Cold

• Screening

• Covid-19

• Temperature

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