An antigen self test provides an easy way to check for infections at home. With one of them in your hands, results can be available within minutes. They’ve designed them to use lateral flow immunochromatography. As a result of its implementation, qualitative detection of nucleocapsid proteins is feasible.
Nasal Specimen Swabs
Unlike some tests, there’s no need to draw blood when using an antigen self test. Instead, a simple cotton swap can collect enough specimens to use in the process. Simply perform a nasopharyngeal swab to gather everything. Usually, it’s meant to be done within 3 days of symptom onset.
93.75% Success When Using Nasopharyngeal Swabs
Some patients may not be capable of performing a nasopharyngeal swab. In that case, it is permissible to swap it for an anterior nasal swab. Both procedures produce relatively reliable results. However, the nasopharyngeal swab has a higher rate of accuracy, at 93.75%. Using an anterior nasal swab only has an 87.18% success rate, for comparison.
Results Available Within 10 Minutes
Rapid PCR tests produce results in about an hour and a half. But, an antigen test can produce them far faster. After collecting a specimen, results are available in 10 minutes. They should not be read if it’s been longer than 15 minutes since specimen collection, though. False positives are more common when reading results outside the interpretation window.
Project Bioshield is a US manufacturer of antigen and PCR tests. Visit us at our website at to learn more.
