The most precise moment to pass a cocovated test, reveals a new study
You may want to wait a few days if you feel under time.
Testing for Covid has never been easier. Instead of having to venture to urgent care or emergencies - as we had to do at the start of the pandemic - cases can now be diagnosed at home With kits, you pick up in your local pharmacy. It is common to keep some of these tests at hand if you or a family member are starting to feel sick. But if you get sniffs or a minor fever, you may not want to take a test right away, according to data from a new study. Read the rest to discover when the researchers say that it is the most precise moment to spend a cocovid test.
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You should wait a bit to test, say the experts.
In a September 28 study Published in Clinical infectious diseases , the researchers studied 350 people to determine when the tests at home are the most precise. Most participants (91.1%) had history or vaccination or had been infected before by COVID-19.
According to the results, the "viral load" culminated on the fourth day when patients showed symptoms, which means that it is the ideal day to test.
"The viral load simply refers to the quantity of virus It is to reproduce in your body, so the more viruses reproducing, the more likely that a test becoming positive, " John Brownstein , PHD, director of innovation at the Boston Children's Hospital and contributor to ABC News, told The Outlet. "Just at the start of an infection, there are limited viral copies. But as the infection progresses, you will have an increasing amount of virus reproducing in your body."
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You cannot exclude Covid if you test the first day.
According to the study, there was still a chance of specific results on the third day of symptoms, although patients are more likely to test negative.
If you test the first or second day that you do not feel well, the results are even less reliable, suggests the study.
"Individuals who test negative on antigen tests the first or second day of symptoms - or even on the third - and who
Staying the symptomatic need to clearly understand that Covid has not been excluded, "said the study.
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These results differ from what experts have found in the past.
According to the researchers, the results are "very different" of what the data showed at the start of the pandemic, when the viral charges were highest when the symptoms started and decreased from this moment. They explained that their results suggest that the viral charges and the duration of the symptoms are both subjects to change with COVID, which means that the data from the start of the pandemic may not apply yet or in the future.
These results are also not perfectly aligned with the current directives of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who ask people of " test immediately "When the symptoms appear. However, the agency notes that the PCR tests are more reliable, and if your antigen test is negative, this result is not always correct. If your antigen test is Negative, the CDC recommends taking another 48 a few hours later, or to pass a PCR test. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB
But even if you may want to wait for the fourth day to test Covid, the same cannot be said about the flu. Looking at the influenza virus, the researchers discovered that the second day was the most precise during the tests, because it was when the viral charges culminated.
Doctors recently pointed out that the symptoms had changed.
In addition to the news on tests last month, the doctors told NBC News that Covid now followed a different model and mainly affecting the upper respiratory tract . Your first sign of Covid is probably a sore throat, which will have fun as congestion settles, as well as other potential symptoms such as fatigue, ailments, fever, chills, headaches and post-nasal drop.
A dry cough, as well as a loss of taste and smell - which were all fairly clear signs of Covid - are now less common. As Grace McComsey , MD, vice-dean of clinical and translational research at the Western University box, told NBC News, that around 10 to 20 percent of its coated patients signal a loss of odor or taste. In the past, these figures were around 60 to 70%.
"It is not the same typical symptoms that we saw before. It is a lot of congestion, sometimes sneezing, generally a slight sore throat," Erick Point of view , MD, vice-president of emergency medicine operations at Mount Sinai Downtown in New York, told The Outlet, noting that diarrhea has also become less frequent in cocovid patients.
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