There also is a rapid PCR test, being used to test White House staff, which Kolonich said he hopes to be able to offer patients by early fall. The CDC notes antigen tests are less sensitive than the polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests used at most regional testing centers, which take several days to return results and detect genetic material. They also may be informative in diagnostic testing situations in which the person has a known exposure to a confirmed case of covid-19.” Rapid antigen tests are particularly helpful if the person is tested in the early stages of infection with SARS-CoV-2 when viral load is generally highest. Kolonich said his concern is a patient receiving a false negative test result and then potentially infecting others.Īccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the effectiveness of rapid antigen tests “largely depends on the circumstances in which they are used. “But if someone just got back from a trip to the beach, you might want to do a second test.” “If a symptomatic person who has severe allergies has a negative test, you can feel pretty confident in that negative,” he said. To Kolonich’s mind, that’s where the evaluation becomes crucial. “But you’re always going to have false negatives.” “The goal is to get a test that’s at least 80% sensitive,” Kolonich said. It’s the evaluation that Kolonich felt was most important, in part because of the occasional false negative results, which can be produced in not just the rapid antigen test but other types as well. “We can evaluate them at their vehicle, we can get vital signs, we can do the test there.” “Everyone who comes here sees a physician assistant or a provider,” Kolonich said. The sample goes into one of two analyzers to be processed. Patients wait in the parking lot, where they’re assessed by a physician and given a swab similar to those used at other testing sites in the region. The test detects a protein on the covid-19 virus. The iCare facility has invested in a system to process what is called a rapid antigen test, which returns covid-19 test results in about 20 minutes. They want to put forth the best tests we have at the time.” “I think it’s very important for people to understand that all these tests are out there under the FDA’s emergency-use authorization order.

“No test is 100% sensitive,” said Kolonich, a physician with iCare Urgent Care on Route 22 in Monroeville. John Kolonich of Monroeville thinks people need to be talking much more about covid-19 testing, and that those doing the testing should be talking much more to their patients.

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