US approves new coronavirus antigen test with fast results
Source: AP
By TOM KRISHER
U.S. regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country.
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp. of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of virus proteins in samples collected from swabs swiped inside the nasal cavity, the FDA said in a statement.
The antigen test is the third type of test to be authorized by the FDA.
Currently, the only way to diagnose active COVID-19 is to test a patients nasal swab for the genetic material of the virus. While considered highly accurate, the tests can take hours and require expensive, specialized equipment mainly found at commercial labs, hospitals or universities.
FILE - This Aug. 2, 2018, file photo shows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration building behind FDA logos at a bus stop on the agency's campus in Silver Spring, Md. U.S. regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have touted as a key to opening up the country. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday, May 9, 2020, announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp. of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of virus proteins in samples collected from swabs inside the nasal cavity, the FDA said in a statement. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Read more: https://apnews.com/63b02e2681191edbc0a3979d4a76df8b
C Moon
(12,224 posts)FDA, I believe it is only to help Trump get back into the Whitehouse, and won't work at all.
Alex4Martinez
(2,198 posts)We need to be tested for prior exposure and for current infection.
AFAIK, neither test confirms both.
PSPS
(13,623 posts)Let's see what tests get approved by an agency of a reputable country not run by the mob.
Pobeka
(4,999 posts)I hope it's fast with high accuracy, but I'm not holding my breath.
McCamy Taylor
(19,240 posts)It is specific but not sensitive.
DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)They are a major processor of flu tests. In fact they are a component of the CMU CovidCast forecasting model.
Javaman
(62,534 posts) administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country.
I bet it only gives negative results lol
Politicub
(12,165 posts)are unreliable hot garbage.
FakeNoose
(32,833 posts)Why else would they have gotten a fast-track approval of their new testing kit?
We've seen it all before, and we'll see it all again.
(not really)