How reliable are the at home COVID kits sent home by MCPS?

[Anonymous]

My child (who attends a school with top percentage of cases of COVID) who has been sick for a week. We have tested for COVID using the at home kit he was given at school and it came back negative. Are these kits accurate?

[Anonymous]

All home rapid-antigen tests can give false negatives--the brands the schools distribute are the same ones you can buy at the store. And folks with covid can sometimes take *days* to finally ring up positive on an antigen. Several members of my extended family had that experience with separate ( = not infected at the same time and not living together) cases of covid during winter omicron. Three or four days of symptoms before finally turning positive--which of course means that if you suspect it's covid, you have to treat it as covid until you really know. Either test repeatedly with the rapids or get a PCR (you can pick one up at a county location for free, have DC take the test in the car, and leave it in the dropbox if you don't want to visit a provider site).

[Anonymous]

The Omicron strains are especially notorious for not being present in large quantities in nasal mucus, so there’s often not enough viral particles on the swab for a rapid test to pick up the infection until you’ve been sick for quite a while, if at all.

In the UK, they started having people swab their throats as well as their noses, but the CDC says the rapid tests sold in the US aren’t made in a way that makes throat swabs useful.

In other words, if you suspect the rapid isn’t accurate, get a PCR to be sure. They can pick up an Omicron infection more accurately because they’re looking for different things. It’s not necessarily the fault of the rapid tests, which were created to pick up strains that behaved differently than the ones currently prevalent, but right now they’re still the only rapid option.

FWIW, Sameday Testing’s free-with-insurance 48-hour tests are currently returning results in about 12 hours. I had one in the late afternoon last week, and had results in my inbox when I woke up the next morning.

[Anonymous]

I don't think they are.

[Anonymous]

There's a high false negative rate with all antigen tests. Get a PCR

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a high false negative rate with all antigen tests. Get a PCR

This. 50% accuracy for negative results.

I had 4 negatives 4 days in a row with full on symptoms (days 3-6). PCR on day 8 after exposure was positive.

[Anonymous]

And fully following directions makes a difference, too.

[Anonymous]

So much misinformation here. The rapid antigen tests are highly accurate when you follow the instructions and use both tests. They'll pick up 90% of cases within 48 hours of when you'd otherwise test positive on a PCR test.

People were quick to write off rapid tests for Omicron based on a single early study. Subsequent studies showed they do just as well against Omicron as Delta.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much misinformation here. The rapid antigen tests are highly accurate when you follow the instructions and use both tests. They'll pick up 90% of cases within 48 hours of when you'd otherwise test positive on a PCR test.

People were quick to write off rapid tests for Omicron based on a single early study. Subsequent studies showed they do just as well against Omicron as Delta.

Thank you for setting us straight. I really appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

Take another test. It takes a few days to show up positive.

[Anonymous]

At our school there is a stomach bug rather than COVID going around.

[Anonymous]

Flu type A (with a doctor’s test). Many of same symptoms as COVID. Kid was vaccinated against flu and is really sick. Doctor said this flu strain was not covered by last fall’s flu shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child (who attends a school with top percentage of cases of COVID) who has been sick for a week. We have tested for COVID using the at home kit he was given at school and it came back negative. Are these kits accurate?

How’s your kid? Fine? Getting better? Great to hear it. The end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child (who attends a school with top percentage of cases of COVID) who has been sick for a week. We have tested for COVID using the at home kit he was given at school and it came back negative. Are these kits accurate?

How’s your kid? Fine? Getting better? Great to hear it. The end.

Took child for testing with pediatrician. Flu with pneumonia. On meds and probably will be out for rest of week. Doctor says he was contagious prior to showing symptoms. With no masks, there are probably more cases at school. He needs to be fever free with no cough before doctor says he can return to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child (who attends a school with top percentage of cases of COVID) who has been sick for a week. We have tested for COVID using the at home kit he was given at school and it came back negative. Are these kits accurate?

How’s your kid? Fine? Getting better? Great to hear it. The end.

Took child for testing with pediatrician. Flu with pneumonia. On meds and probably will be out for rest of week. Doctor says he was contagious prior to showing symptoms. With no masks, there are probably more cases at school. He needs to be fever free with no cough before doctor says he can return to school.

A lingering cough from a (past) infection isn’t reason to continue isolating. The criteria is generally fever-free for 24 hours without medication, with other symptoms improving (but not necessarily fully resolved).