Recently, the new coronavirus antigen self-test kit was launched online and offline.

Yesterday, experts from the Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention introduced that antigen testing has the advantages of simple operation and quick results, but because the sensitivity is far less than that of nucleic acid testing, it is prone to "false negatives" and cannot be used as the "gold standard" for judging infection. Currently, there are three types of suitable groups of people, and it is not recommended for the general population to conduct antigen testing at will.

　　Guangzhou Daily All Media Reporter Wu Ren

　　Correspondent Sui Wei Jianxuan

　　Advantages of Antigen Detection

　　Quick detection and simple operation

　　Li Kuibiao, deputy director of the Virus Immunity Department of the Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that in terms of detection principles, antigens are like the "clothes" worn on the outside of the virus, while nucleic acids are the genes inside the virus. The principle of the new coronavirus antigen detection method is to detect Compared with the nucleic acid detection method, whether there is a new coronavirus protein in the specimen has two significant advantages: "First, the speed is very fast, and the results can be seen in about 15 minutes. Or it can be used by primary medical institutions, as simple as using a pregnancy test stick to detect whether or not you are pregnant. If residents do not take nasopharyngeal swabs for self-testing at home, they can also take pharyngeal swabs.”

　　Antigen detection limitations

　　Low sensitivity and prone to false negatives

　　Li Kuibiao introduced that antigen testing also has its limitations and cannot replace nucleic acid testing.

Nucleic acid testing is still the basis for the diagnosis of new coronary pneumonia and is the "gold standard".

"The sensitivity of antigen detection is far less than that of nucleic acid detection, so in the early or late stages of the disease, when the viral load in the patient's body is relatively low, the antigen detection method will not detect the protein of the virus, which is prone to false negative results." Therefore, Whether the antigen test result of the suspected population is positive or negative, further nucleic acid testing should be carried out. The positive result can be used for early triage and rapid management of the suspected population, but it cannot be used as the basis for the diagnosis of new coronavirus infection.

　　For people

　　Persons with respiratory symptoms, quarantine observation personnel, residents in need

　　Li Kuibiao said that the "New Coronavirus Antigen Detection Application Plan (Trial)" issued by the National Health and Medical Commission on March 11 clearly pointed out that the antigen detection is suitable for three categories of people:

　　The first category is those who seek medical treatment in primary medical and health institutions, with respiratory symptoms, fever and other symptoms and symptoms within 5 days; the second category is isolation observation personnel, including home isolation observation, close and sub-close contact, entry isolation observation, sealing The third category is community residents who need antigen self-testing.

　　"For individual residents, if they suspect that they have been in contact with an infected person, go to a high-risk place, feel uneasy and feel a little unwell, they can take a continuous home test." He emphasized that a single antigen test is cannot be used as a basis for judgment.

Due to the low sensitivity of the antigen detection method, negative results may occur in the early stage of the disease process, resulting in missed detection, so it must be tested for 5 consecutive days.

　　He also reminded that because the epidemic prevention and control situation in Guangzhou is stable at this stage, the overall positive rate of the population is very low, and the antigen detection method itself may have occasional false positives, so it is not recommended for ordinary people who do not belong to the above three categories of people. Use antigen testing to avoid false positives and waste of emergency response and medical resources.

　　At the press conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council on March 15, Li Jinming, deputy director of the National Health Commission's Clinical Laboratory Center, also pointed out that antigen testing should be used for high-risk and high-prevalence cluster infections, and the general population should not Feel free to do antigen testing.

　　Reminder: report positive results to the community as soon as possible

　　What should I do with the used antigen kit?

Li Kuibiao introduced that after self-testing, if the result is negative, you can use the sealed bag that comes with the kit to wrap the kit and treat it as ordinary garbage; if there is a positive result, you must report it to your community as soon as possible. The three-person team collects nucleic acid at the door. If the nucleic acid test result is confirmed to be positive, it will enter the infected person management process, and the used antigen kit will be put into a sealed bag and transported to a designated medical institution for disposal as medical waste.

　　Suikang Health, Jianmin Medicine and other channels have launched new crown antigen detection kits

　　Guangzhou is well stocked

　　Guangzhou Daily News (all media reporter Tu Duanyu) "18 yuan for a single person? Then I will buy a box." On the morning of the 22nd, a man who bought medicine at Jianmin Medicine saw that the new crown antigen test kit was on the shelf, and he took it. Just bought a box, the clerk told him that he must read the manual carefully and standardize the operation.

　　It is reported that since March 22, the four chain pharmacies of GPHL's Jianmin Medicine, Caizhilin, Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Pharmacy, and Baiyuantang have successively put on the shelves of new crown antigen detection kits. The first batch is expected to cover 26 stores. In the future, it will integrate market demand and sales, actively allocate supply, and further increase sales stores to ensure and meet the needs of citizens.

　　Jiang Ning, secretary of the party branch and general manager of Guangzhou Jianmin Pharmaceutical Chain Co., Ltd. of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, said that the first batch of new crown antigen detection kits arriving at present are products of Nanjing Novizan Medical Technology Co., Ltd., a box of 20 people. The whole box is priced at 360 yuan, a single serving is 18 yuan, and each person is limited to 2 boxes.

　　According to reports, the new crown antigen detection products sold in retail stores include test cards, sample eluates, nasal swabs, product instruction manuals, labels to be used, and operation notices for new coronavirus antigen detection reagents.

The product needs to be stored in a dark environment at 4℃-30℃, and the validity period is 15 months.

After opening (temperature 4℃-30℃, humidity <65%), the effective time is 1 hour.

The instruction manual has detailed inspection methods and explanations of inspection results.

According to the product manual, the test takes about six steps. Observe the test card 10 minutes after the sample is dropped into the test card to determine the result.

　　Guo Xiaoling, head of customer service of GPHL's Suikang drug purchasing platform, introduced that in order to support epidemic prevention and control and facilitate public purchases, GPHL launched the "Suikang Healthy Life" applet simultaneously on March 22 to sell COVID-19 antigen detection kits. The price is the same as the offline store, 360 yuan per box (for 20 people), and each person is limited to 2 boxes. Currently, it is only sold in the city, with free delivery to home.

　　The reporter found that it is very convenient to buy the new crown antigen test kit online. Open the "Suikang" WeChat applet, find "antigen test" under "healthy life" on the homepage, and click to jump to "Jianmin Medicine Micro Mall" Purchase page of the antigen kit" to purchase.