GAME CHANGER? - RAPID ANTIGEN TEST IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR

 

A method of testing in detecting infection of coronavirus is rapid antigen test with high specificity and low sensitivity.  If a person tested positive by using rapid antigen test, he or she is really positive but if there is a negative result, it may sometime be false.

The antigen test conducted in Jammu and Kashmir used for testing incoming passengers by road and air and for contact-tracing in containment zones, proved to be a game changer in containing disease in the Union Territory.  This also provides less pressure on the administration and no inconvenience to travellers.  The results are declared in 15 minutes whereas it takes one or two days for RT-PCR tests.  Apart from waiting for the results, it is difficult to provide mandatory quarantine for the passengers.

Little over a week, over 87,000 tests conducted under rapid antigen tests while 3.62 lakhs of RT-PCR tests were conducted till 1st September.  Around 5,000 people are tested under rapid antigent tests which includes 1,200 people at the airport.  Land travellers on Srinagar-Jammu highway, people in containment zones and brick kilns are also tested.  In a first in the country, Jammu and Kashmir made it mandatory to test incoming passengers by using RT-PCR technique.

The RAT considered as a game changer as it provides result in 15 minutes and simpler.  The people found to be negative would move out immediately while positve tested people will be quarantined.

Dr Qazi Haroon, a special officer on duty helps in contact tracing in Red zones.  The RAT also helps the doctors in tracing out the infected people and stop them from spreading it further.  The option was good when testing carried out on large population.