Home Covid Testing

[Another Reader]

The QuickVue rapid antigen test (the kind that's cheap enough to use several times a week) is being deployed in a pilot study in Tennessee. The tests will be free to those in the study.

Oh, ok, why didn't I think of that a year ago

The NIH recently spun-up something they're calling RADX ( https://www.nih.gov/research-training/medical-research-initiatives/radx ) "to speed innovation in the development, commercialization, and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing. Accurate, fast, easy-to-use, and widely accessible testing is required before the nation can safely return to normal life." Better late than never, I suppose.

As to price, I'd say it looks like it's still "too high", but the fact that you can get it without a prescription and read it at home is a big step forward for the USA. Here's a quote from an NPR story yesterday:

We've talked about BinaxNOW earlier in the thread. The difference now is that it's no longer "against the law" to sell it in the USA.

We've talked about Dr. Michael Mina earlier in the thread as well. He's been calling for this for the past 12 months. It wasn't a technology limitation, it was a bureaucracy limitation, and as a result, way too many people suffered. At least the bureaucrats are finally coming around.

Here's why these tests won't matter. From one of the support groups.

"Then my brother’s family , who still gathers and does their thing with no regard just told me his step daughter tested positive and has been at school all week, and no symptoms. She has been with my nieces and nephews at his house all week and they are not testing my nephew and niece event though they had 5 days of being with a positive exposure and they are sending their kids back to school next week. Plus, my brothers wife had a headache and runny nose all day yesterday but decided it was a good idea to go do a family day with all the kids and go to a golf place as well as a hibachi restaurant. They sent us all a picture of them sitting around the hibachi table with their masks off, including their infected daughter (who just got her test results today. But why is she out while waiting a test result?)"

As long as this keeps up, it's going to be tough to stop the spread. Only full vaccination, including the stupid, will help.

 

[sengsational]

...it's going to be tough to stop the spread

I agree.

 

[sengsational]

I thought two at home testing kits had been approved by the FDA recently, one of them being the test by Abbott Labs.

Right, Abbott BinaxNOW has been getting produced for many months, but was just recently approved for use in the US. Quidel QuickVue Covid was also recently approved. I think those are the only two no-prescription, immediate result, at-home tests allowed in the US. But if there are more that would be great news.

 

[sengsational]

Right, Abbott BinaxNOW has been getting produced for many months, but was just recently approved for use in the US.

BinaxNOW is available at drug stores. A pair of tests is priced at $24. This is the lateral flow antigen technology, no prescription required, no CLIA lab required, immediate results test that could be helpful for public health (if it were cheaper).

 

[Alan]

I did my first at home lateral flow test last week. The UK government are keen on having as many people take them as needed to flag and control virus spread. You can pick them up online from the NHS in boxes of 7 or from a local pharmacy or Covid test center. Early March saw all schools open up and families are encouraged to test everyone twice a week. I was talking with a friend who has 3 children so including her husband they do 10 tests per week.

To report the test, negative or positive, I chose to do it onsite. Simply went to the site to report, logged on with my NHS account and password and held the strip up to the camera of the laptop to record the QR code.

If a test is positive then you are requested to take a PCR test to confirm the result.

 

[FIREd]

Home tests have been approved recently and are now available for purchase in France. I tested myself yesterday because I had a stuffed nose and itchy throat. I bought a pack of 5 from the pharmacy. Looks like I only have allergies...

 

[Alan]

Home test kit for antibodies

I just received an invitation to sign up for a survey checking how many people in England have antibodies against Covid.

This is one of the REACT studies run by Imperial College and Ipsos MORI in conjunction with the NHS, and I've been chosen at random, nothing to do with the mixed vaccine trial I'm already participating in. There have been a number of these studies over the last year involving hundreds of thousands of participants. (see link below for details on the various studies). The last look at the prevalence of antibodies was in January/February

25 February - Antibody survey and attitudes towards vaccines
Findings in brief

Our study of 155,000 people has shown that around 14% of England’s population has evidence of antibodies against the coronavirus, either from having had COVID-19 or a coronavirus vaccine. The study also looked at antibody responses in people who have had the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and people's attitudes towards being vaccinated.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/research-and-impact/groups/react-study/

 

[sengsational]

I did my first at home lateral flow test last week. ....

I did my first yesterday, as I had a fever (2.8F above baseline) with associated aches. Nothing "Covidy" in the symptoms... just fever, but I figured what the heck...try it out.

I put 6 drops of a solution into a little plastic well, rubbed a q-tip in both nostrils, shoved the q-tip into the well, twirled it, and waited 15 minutes. Pretty easy.

The instructions have a lot of disclaimers. It was 92% able to detect virus, if present, and almost never gave false positives.

 

[Alan]

I did my first yesterday, as I had a fever (2.8F above baseline) with associated aches. Nothing "Covidy" in the symptoms... just fever, but I figured what the heck...try it out.

I put 6 drops of a solution into a little plastic well, rubbed a q-tip in both nostrils, shoved the q-tip into the well, twirled it, and waited 15 minutes. Pretty easy.

The instructions have a lot of disclaimers. It was 92% able to detect virus, if present, and almost never gave false positives.

My sister just did one last week, on Friday. She had Covid over Christmas and has since had her first vaccine but has been ill enough last week to keep her from going to work. When she called the doctor it was suggested that she take a Covid home test because the time she got Covid she had similar symptoms to what she has now and it took 3 days before classic Covid symptoms appear.

Her test was negative, she recovered over the weekend and went back to work on Monday. She has a suppressed immune system with Lupus and tends to get sick with whatever is circulating, but she was very reassured when the Covid test came back negative.

Last March she did have classic Covid symptoms and was taken into hospital as that was early in the pandemic and Covid testing was not readily available outside a hospital setting. Turned out that she had pleurisy.

 

[Bongleur]

List of the various COVID tests & kits, costs?

Although I watch network & PBS news, I have not seen any coverage talking about how many different types & brand names of COVID tests exist, nor of how to obtain them (some are over the counter home tests, some only done in facilities...) and their accuracy.

 

[sengsational]

My family just got back from Puerto Rico and used BinaxNOW tests a few days before traveling back. The tests were in all the pharmacies. They also had the Ellume test. The testing wasn't required (PR is USA), but there was a tiny possibly of exposure, and didn't want to be "part of the problem" (a spreader).

"Covid Test" is too vague, as it turns out. It depends upon what you want to know. If you want to detect a spreader, these antigen tests are unparalleled because they "fire" when the virus is in quantities where spreading is most likely, and of course you find out soon enough to change behavior.

All of us were negative and didn't ever get symptoms, so just a good feeling. It's still my feeling, along with Dr. Mina and Dr. Topal and other prominent people, that every household have a big stack of these tests, mailed by the government. In quantities like that, they'd cost under a buck.


Here's a page with lots of tests:
https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/covid-19TestingToolkit/molecular-based-tests/current-molecular-and-antigen-tests.html

 

[harllee]

I have amassed 10 of the at home tests. Had trouble finding them--all the local pharmacies out, finally found some on Amazon and various other places but they cost about $30 each. So I have spent $300 on at home tests. I guess it is worth it?

 

[sengsational]

The BinaxNOW tests in PR were $22. That's for 2 tests, which are supposed to be taken at least 36 hours apart. That makes sense since if you look at the typical viral load curve, spreading the tests out wouldn't allow many false negatives.

 

[Jerry1]

Here's a page with lots of tests:
https://www.centerforhealthsecurity...sts/current-molecular-and-antigen-tests.htmls

That link didn’t seem to work. Here’s a link to their COVID site with links to test and more.

https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/resources/COVID-19/index.html

 

[Chuckanut]

I want to know where we can get the home tests for $1. I would settle for $4. Free is best.

 

[harllee]

I want to know where we can get the home tests for $1. I would settle for $4. Free is best.

All of the ones I bought were about $30 each and I had a hard time finding them even at that price.

 

[audreyh1]

The UK is way ahead of the US on this!

 

[braumeister]

That link didn’t seem to work. Here’s a link to their COVID site with links to test and more.

https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/resources/COVID-19/index.html

There was an extra letter on the earlier URL. Here is the correct one:
https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/covid-19TestingToolkit/molecular-based-tests/current-molecular-and-antigen-tests.html

 

[sengsational]

I want to know where we can get the home tests for $1. I would settle for $4. Free is best.

If I gave the impression that the $1 test was available now, sorry about that. I meant to convey that "if" governments got behind a few tests (pledging to buy huge quantities, guaranteeing the test manufacturer a secure investment with little risk), test could be produced in the dollar range.

Nothing is "free", but could be "free to the consumer" if governments got their act in gear.

Here's an article from the WHO that mentions $5, which almost hits your price point, but the US will never see $5 because, well, same reason as why we are the world's patsy on prescription drugs.

https://www.who.int/news/item/28-09...id-tests-for-low--and-middle-income-countries

 

[Gumby]

Since we are driving to a college reunion in Maryland this coming weekend, I just bought Abbott's BinaxNOW tests. When we return, we will test ourselves at the 3 day and 6 day points and will avoid contact with anyone else until we get two negatives. A single box (each box comes with two tests) costs $23.99 plus tax at Walgreens.

(Yes, we are both fully vaccinated. And all the events we will be attending are outside, with masks.)

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

If I gave the impression that the $1 test was available now, sorry about that. I meant to convey that "if" governments got behind a few tests (pledging to buy huge quantities, guaranteeing the test manufacturer a secure investment with little risk), test could be produced in the dollar range.

Nothing is "free", but could be "free to the consumer" if governments got their act in gear.

Here's an article from the WHO that mentions $5, which almost hits your price point, but the US will never see $5 because, well, same reason as why we are the world's patsy on prescription drugs.

https://www.who.int/news/item/28-09...id-tests-for-low--and-middle-income-countries

Well, the US government (we the people) is/are paying for them...but you have to go to the testing sites, at least for now.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act ensures that COVID-19 testing is free to anyone in the U.S.

https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/com...ext=COVID-19 tests are,available in your area.

 

[sengsational]

Public Health Based Testing Ending?

Based on the news that heard immunity is not going to happen (ie we all will acquire the virus eventually), Germany is giving up on testing "cases", and will concentrate on tests for clinical purposes.

Yes, apparently the experts are starting to admit that every person in the world will have the virus enter their nose. Of course vaccination will mean fewer people with symptoms, but they'll spread it. So this changes the calculus. If everyone will end up getting it sooner or later, the idea to test in order to contain is less important.

I've been on the "home test" soap box since early in the pandemic, and I'm thinking it's time to just take the "rip off the band-aid" approach, and get it over with. Anyone know where I should go to acquire just a few viral particles

 

[Alan]

The Guardian has a piece on Germany's new approach to testing, which seems to be an effort to persuade more people to get vaccinated. Currently individuals can use a free test to get into venues. In future only vaccinated individuals will be eligible for free tests to get into venues. So they appear to be still providing free tests, just not to everyone.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-testing-in-bid-to-get-more-people-vaccinated

Germany’s leaders have set out new coronavirus regulations for the coming months, including abolishing free rapid testing to incentivise people to get vaccinated.

Widespread restrictions are likely to stay in place in an effort to tackle a growing case rate that is only expected to worsen in the coming weeks as holidaymakers return.

The most controversial rules apply to people who are not vaccinated. They will be expected to undergo tests as a condition for attending all manner of events, from indoor gatherings to restaurant visits to religious services.

The system of free rapid coronavirus testing, which has been widely available for months and has been used by Germans to get into venues such as theatres and football stadiums, is expected to be abolished from 11 October. After that, those who are unvaccinated – except for pregnant women, children or those advised against getting a vaccine on medical grounds – will have to pay for the tests. The hope is that people will no longer rely on the test system as a way of avoiding getting a vaccine.

Masks are also expected to remain obligatory in indoors spaces such as offices, schools, shops and on public transport.

The leaders of Germany’s 16 states, who met with the chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Tuesday to hammer out the new regulations, will reserve the right to tighten them further if the infection rate is deemed to be out of control.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

... Anyone know where I should go to acquire just a few viral particles

Come on down to my neck of the woods. We had dinner at our local Cracker Barrel not too long ago and about the time we were leaving, it started filling up with the after church crowd. Hacking, coughing, no masks...it was a sight to behold. As we walked out, I asked my DW if she enjoyed her dinner at "The COVID Barrel"

On one hand, I don't think getting it would be too terrible. Then, I think about the long haulers and what we don't know about long term effects. Throw in a few studies that have shown that some of those infected had their own antibodies turn on them. You just cannot win with this.

 

[youbet]

I've been on the "home test" soap box since early in the pandemic,

Since I've discovered I can get tested close to home, 7 days/week from 9:00 AM to 6 PM, what would be the motivation for me to lay out bux for home tests kits other than convenience? Are the home tests better?

As mentioned previously in another post, I got tested for the first time Sunday and had the quick test results within minutes and the PCR results the next day.

I can afford a stack of the home test kits and can envision perhaps putting some to use. But while I can get tested free and conveniently should I switch to home testing?