During the period when the omikron variant of the coronavirus became dominant, the accuracy of three commercially available self-tests was low in people without corona symptoms. Research shows that if people who have no complaints do a self-test, 72 to 80 percent of the actually infected people do not test positive.
A large group of Dutch researchers examined three commercially available and used corona self-tests from Acon Labs (‘Flowflex’), MP Biomedicals (‘MPbio’), and Siemens-Healthineers (‘Clinitest’) on more than 3600 people without corona-like complaints. . The study was conducted from January 12, 2022 to March 30 this year, when the omikron variant was already clearly dominant. At the test sites, the participants first underwent a PCR test to determine whether or not they were actually infected. They then received one of three self-tests to use at home within three hours of the site visit, without knowing the result of the PCR test.
The researchers state that the outcome of the study is important for situations in which it is considered whether or not to use self-tests in people without complaints. People without complaints who had a negative result in a self-test are advised to repeat the self-test if they are among vulnerable people. They could, for example, do this a day after the first test.
It was already known that self-tests are sufficiently reliable in people who do have corona-like complaints.
The research also shows that it is still important to observe the well-known hygiene measures to protect vulnerable people. This involves keeping distance where possible, good ventilation, use of a mouth-nose mask and coughing in the elbow.
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