Confluence Health will switch to an antigen test that can return COVID-19 results within a day | Coronavirus

WENATCHEE —Wednesday, Confluence Health will start using the COVID-19 Antigen Test. This is a new way of returning results to patients within a day.

Rather than being sent to an external lab for processing that can take days, these tests will be analyzed at the Confluence medical facility, said Jason Lake’s incoming medical director.

Each test can be analyzed in about 15 minutes. He said patients who were tested in the morning could expect results on the same day and those who were tested in the afternoon were likely to get results the next morning.

Nearly every healthcare provider in the region, including Confluence Health, uses a test method called the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). These tests Amplifies and detects genetic material associated with viruses. This is very accurate, but it takes a lot of labs and time to do it.

Confluence Health uses an antigen test system from a company called Quidel Corporation. received May approval for emergency use of the test from the Food and Drug Administration. According to Lake, Confluence is confident that the tests will run correctly.

“The problem with antigen testing as a whole category is that there is a lot of variation in test accuracy, depending on the device manufacturer and reagents,” he said. “Different antigen tests have different characteristics. The test we have is a very, very good and reliable antigen test. It is probably the best antigen tester out there. , The sensitivity is almost 97% compared to PCR.”

Antigen test Not very sensitive Like PCR tests, positive results are “very accurate”, but the test does not always detect a trace of virus, which can lead to false negatives. Read some of the FDA releases.

Confluence uses traditional PCR tests in situations where accuracy is important.

If a patient is admitted to Confluence’s Central Washington Hospital with symptoms of respiratory infections similar to COVID-19 and is tested negative for antigen, a follow-up PCR test will be used to confirm results.

“If they test negative for an antigen, we’ll send a PCR to be absolutely sure,” Lake said. “What we want to do is make sure that PPE practices continue to be robust in hospitals to keep patients and staff safe. So we don’t want to miss the potential COVID for inpatients. .”

Starting Wednesday, the “majority” test conducted by Confluence Health will use antigenic methods, including drive-through sites, according to Lake. The main drive-through at Wenatchee in early August was a test of about 400 people per day.

Lake was unaware that other health care providers in northern Washington were switching entirely to antigen testing. However, Confluence Health spoke with the Ministry of Health, who was “very comfortable” with the change.

Supply has been pooled in anticipation of a switchover and currently over 7,000 antigen tests are underway.

For optimal sample collection, Confluence’s PCR swab had to be inserted deep into the nose. In addition to reducing turnaround time, the new antigen test requires only a swab with a shallow nose.

“At the same time, we’re switching to nasal swabs that patients can do on their own, rather than nasopharyngeal swabs, and the more invasive and uncomfortable nasopharyngeal swabs,” he said. “So I think this would be a much more comfortable test for the patient. So there are many reasons to be excited to make this conversion.”

These will be processed on the same machine that the organization uses to analyze traditional influenza tests, Lake said.

“This will set us up very well in terms of workflow as we get closer to the flu season,” he said. “In the case of patients with respiratory symptoms, flu and COVID tests may eventually be required during the fall and we will combine them all on the same machine.”

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