What Canadians need to know about COVID rapid tests as fall approaches – National | 24CA News

With the upcoming fall flu season and the continued circulation of latest COVID-19 variants throughout the nation, consideration is as soon as once more turning to fast antigen assessments.

However, this flu season is totally different from the final, because the federal authorities stopped its shipments of fast assessments to the provinces and territories, which means Canadians might must look a little bit more durable to seek out them, and even pay out of pocket, consultants say.

Given the dwindling provide, growing numbers of expired assessments and the emergence of latest COVID-19 variants within the nation, the query arises: Are fast assessments nonetheless efficient?

“I still see a value in the tests, because SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID sheds for a longer time than we tend to see with some the other respiratory infections,” defined Dr. Gerald Evans, infectious illness specialist at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.

“It would be able to inform you of the likelihood you might have to be off work for a little bit longer than you were expecting.”

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In March 2023, the federal authorities ended new shipments of fast antigen assessments to provinces and territories. Health Canada stated the choice to finish shipments was made in collaboration with provinces and territories, because the areas had sufficient provide.

At the time, Ottawa stated for the reason that pandemic began it had ordered greater than 811 million fast assessments with a price ticket of about $5 billion. About 680 million of these went to provinces and territories.

Health Canada stated that in March there have been 90 million fast assessments within the federal stock, however 6.5 million of these will expire this 12 months. The relaxation expire inside two years.

Nazeem Muhajarine, a professor of epidemiology on the University of Saskatchewan, believes fast take a look at kits are most likely nonetheless good for 15-20 months after the expiry date — and even stated he just lately used a take a look at that expired in May on a member of the family.

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“I think the expiration dates are very conservatively labeled, as they should,” he stated. “That being said, you can get a new test kit and use that, so you know that you are using it within that expiration date.”

Rather than fixating solely on the precise expiry date, Muhajarine argued it’s essential to prioritize the proper execution of directions, which incorporates thorough swabbing of the nostril and throat.

This additionally entails storing the testing kits in a spot away from direct daylight and refraining from putting them within the fridge, he added.

In an electronic mail to Global News on Thursday, a spokesperson from Health Canada stated the expiry dates and anticipated shelf lifetime of fast antigen assessments are particular to the model.

“Companies do extensive research to gather the data to demonstrate that their test… function over a period of time and also under the changing conditions and temperatures in Canada,” the spokesperson stated.

“A shelf-life for a test kit is established based on the component within the test kit with the shortest shelf life. As a part of their application for authorization of a testing device, companies establish an estimated shelf life and expiry date based on the data they have collected to demonstrate the test will continue to perform as intended and over what period of time.”

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The approved shelf-life (not together with extensions) could be discovered within the testing info part of Health Canada’s checklist of approved testing units.

BTNX, the producer of the Rapid Response COVID-19 Antigen Test Device, stated until Health Canada has given a shelf-life extension to its product, it can’t be used previous the expiry date.

“They already have a shelf-life of 24 months from date of manufacture,” a spokesperson instructed Global News in an electronic mail Thursday.

Evans added some fast take a look at producers have carried out their very own research to evaluate the accuracy of their assessments even after the expiry date has handed.

He stated the issue with fast assessments is that they will develop into much less delicate over time and accuracy turns into questionable.

“I would underscore that if you have a COVID test and you use it — whether it’s expired or not — and it comes up positive, that’s pretty reliable. When a positive test is positive, it’s a true positive,” he defined.

“But be careful with the negative tests because they might be a bit unreliable. When they’re less sensitive, it means they can be negative when you actually have the disease.”

One efficient technique for bettering the accuracy of the assessments is to carry out them repeatedly over the course of three consecutive days. This strategy will increase the probability of detecting a optimistic end result, Evans stated.

Early information from preliminary research means that antigen assessments detect the Omicron variant however might have decreased sensitivity, based on the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“Everything that’s out there now is basically an Omicron subvariant,” Evans stated, so fast assessments could also be much less delicate to the lineages circulating the nation, similar to EG.5 and BA.2.86.

In mild of this, Evans reiterated, that in case you are feeling unwell and obtain a detrimental take a look at end result, you need to carry out two extra assessments.

Muhajarine stated the assessments ought to work towards the brand new variants.

This is as a result of the antigen-based take a look at kits are particularly designed to detect the presence of nucleoprotein a key marker related to the virus (which normally doesn’t mutate). However, when a virus mutates it normally occurs within the spike protein, he stated.

“And so the formulations of this in this test still work even though the spike proteins have changed,” Muhajarine added.

Because Ottawa stopped sending shipments of fast antigen assessments to the provinces and territories, Evans stated it could be tough to seek out them within the fall.

Pharmacies and grocery shops are a superb place to start out trying in case you are on the hunt for one, he stated.

In the previous, provinces have been offering these assessments at no cost at these areas, however now that there’s a restricted provide, he stated shops might begin charging for them.

If individuals find yourself having to purchase them, Evans suspects most received’t be eager on spending out of their pocket. 

“And if nothing else, the (provincial) public health people might be able to point you in the right direction to where you might be able to pick up a test,” Evans stated.

— With recordsdata from Global News’ Saba Aziz and the Canadian Press