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View all search resultsExperts advise caution with antigen tests for screening
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mid persistent COVID-19 testing constraints, the government appears to be looking into using rapid antigen tests, which are cheaper and faster although less accurate than the gold-standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Experts are on board but urge caution.
National COVID-19 task force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito said the government was searching for better and more accurate alternatives to its current screening method of rapid antibody tests, whose inaccuracy experts have highlighted, and that it was considering antigen tests.
Wiku said on Tuesday that the government was aware of the World Health Organization's recommended list of rapid antigen test kits, which could provide results in less than 30 minutes.
PCR tests can take hours or even days to process in labs as testing backlogs remain common in the country.
"Certainly, antigen tests can be used in Indonesia as recommended by the WHO in order to replace rapid antibody tests, and screening with [antigen] tests can be more effective and won't be a burden on PCR tests as the gold standard in diagnostic tests," he said.
Antigen tests use nasal or throat swab samples to detect certain proteins on the surface of the coronavirus. These tests do not require advanced lab equipment and come in the form of paper strips resembling home pregnancy tests.
Antibody tests detect antibodies in blood samples – which may only develop weeks after infection and can form differently in people with certain conditions.
