The diagnosis is more certain when the viral load is higher
A very common situation during the sixth wave: testing negative for an antigen test today and yet ending up positive for COVID a few days later. It is not a failure of this test that so many people have resorted to this Christmas to be able to meet, it is that its reliability varies depending on the progression of the disease. Then, When is the ideal time to have an antigen test?
This type of test should be carried out when the first symptoms compatible with the coronavirus appear. If there are no symptoms, it is unlikely that the test will be positive while, if you have them, it may or may not detect them. And is that With the omicron variant, it has been found that symptoms arrive very early, after three days, of the onset of the disease.
In the application that appears below you can calculate when is the ideal time to take the test and at what point the isolation should begin so as not to infect other people. You only have to enter the date of a possible contagion to obtain approximate data.
What is the antigen test?
The tests available in pharmacies are self-diagnostic antigen tests, easy to use following the instructions and detecting the presence of virus proteins.
How reliable is the antigen test?
It is higher in the first days of infection, when the viral load is highest and especially in symptomatic cases. For an infected at this stage, they are 90% reliable.
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What to do if it is negative?
It does not guarantee the absence of infection with total certainty, so caution must be exercised and preventive measures such as a mask and ventilation must be maintained at all times.
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