The Food and Drug Administration is cautioning the public about the reliability of a widely used rapid test for the coronavirus. The test, made by Abbott Laboratories, has been linked with inaccurate results that could falsely reassure patients that they are not infected with the virus. From a report: The Trump administration has promoted the test as a key factor in controlling the epidemic in the U.S., and it’s used for daily testing at the White House. As first reported on NPR, as many as 15 to 20 out of every 100 tests may produce falsely negative results. A study released this week indicated that the test could be missing as many as 48% of infections. The FDA issued the alert on the Abbott test “in the spirit of transparency.” In a press release, the agency said it’s investigating whether the false-negative results could be connected to the type of swab used in the test or the material the samples are stored in for transport. It also cautions that “any negative test results that are not consistent with a patient’s clinical signs and symptoms or necessary for patient management should be confirmed with another test.”
of this story at Slashdot.
Source:: Slashdot