ICMR approves another home-based Rapid Antigen Test kit
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New Delhi, June 04: To address the high demand for Covid testing in the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved a second home-based Rapid Antigen Test kit named “PanBio COVID-19”. The test kit is developed by Abbott Rapid Diagnostics Division, Chicago.
The self-use kit has been given provisional approval till July 5. The kit will be used only in symptomatic individuals and immediate contacts of laboratory-confirmed positive cases.
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ICMR issued an advisory on the use of self-test kits. "Indiscriminate testing is not advised. Home testing should be conducted as per the procedure described by the manufacturer in the user manual. Home testing by RAT is advised only in symptomatic individuals and immediate contacts of laboratory-confirmed positive cases," the ICMR said.
As per the guidelines, all users need to click a picture of the test strip after completing the test procedure with the same mobile phone used to download the mobile app and user registration.
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“All individuals who test positive may be considered as true positives, and no-repeat testing is required. All symptomatic individuals who test negative by RAT should get themselves immediately tested by RTPCR. This is especially important as the RATs are likely to miss few positive cases presenting with a low viral load,” according to the advisory.
ICMR had earlier given its approval to the CoviSelf test kit by Pune-based Mylab Discovery Solutions, which was priced at ₹250 per kit.
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