MEDICAL organizations on Tuesday pressed for a stop to the use of rapid antibody tests in the workplace, saying it is doing more harm than good in the fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
The call was made in a virtual press forum organized by the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP), attended by convenors of the Health Professionals Alliance against COVID-19.
“We should stop using rapid antibody test already. Among all countries, I think it is only us that is still using it,” said Dr. Antonio Dans, spokesman of the Philippine Society of General Internal Medicine (PSGIM).
He said rapid test kits are not accurate as these search for antibodies and not the virus. Dans noted about half of the people subjected to rapid testing will have false results.
“Where is the danger there? Those who won’t test positive in the rapid tests will be capable of spreading the novel virus in the communities,” he said.
“We really believe that the use of rapid tests in the workplace has contributed to the spread of COVID-19,” he added.
Dan also said this does not mean that workplaces must use the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for workers. He said regular use of RT-PCR tests to screen workers would be impractical.
“If you use RT-PCR test today and he gets a negative result, he will be allowed to go to work. But what about tomorrow? Will you swab test him again? And are you going to do that everyday? We cannot,” Dans said.
Dan also said this does not mean that workplaces must use the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for workers. He said regular use of RT-PCR tests to screen workers would be impractical.
“If you use RT-PCR test today and he gets a negative result, he will be allowed to go to work. But what about tomorrow? Will you swab test him again? And are you going to do that everyday? We cannot,” Dans said.
Instead of using rapid antibody and RT-PCR testing to screen workers, he said companies should consider using the RT-PCR for a symptoms-based and exposure-based testing of employees.
By symptoms-based, he said, those with cough, colds, fever, and other symptoms of COVID-19 should immediately get tested for COVID-19 via RT-PCR, while exposure-based refers to those who need to be tested via RT-PCR after having exposure to suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases.
“Our advise for return to workplace protocols, there should just be symptoms-based and exposure-based checking everyday,” he said.
“That is something we can sustain everyday. Just two simple questions for workers,” he added
Aside from PSGIM, other medical societies represented in the forum are Philippine College of Physicians, Philippine Medical Association, Philippine College of Emergency Medicine, and Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians.
