The Japanese government is mulling over the expediency of using quick coronavirus antigen tests en masse as the number of COVID-19 patients in the country continues to grow, media in Japan reported on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2020) The Japanese government is mulling over the expediency of using quick coronavirus antigen tests en masse as the number of COVID-19 patients in the country continues to grow, media in Japan reported on Wednesday.
Antigen tests detect protein unique to the virus and do not need to be conducted at labs like the conventionally used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.
The Japanese Health Ministry is currently weighing under what circumstances such tests should be introduced in the country, the Kyodo news agency reported.
A government source was cited in the report as saying that the ministry was seeking to approve antigen testing kits produced by private firms in May.
Antigen tests, which are are more rapid but less precise than the PCR tests, use mucus samples from the nose. It takes time, however, for antibodies to build up in an infected person's body, so asymptomatic patients and those at the early stages of infection are likely to test negative.
The tests, therefore, are more likely to be used for seriously ill patients who require urgent medical intervention, while evening out the supply of testing kits adequate to the growing number of Japanese patients who need to get tested amid the pandemic, it was claimed in the report.
Earlier this week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while efforts by countries to accelerate the development of tests capable of detecting COVID-19 antibodies are welcomed, it is the tests capable of detecting the virus itself that are the "core tool" for tackling the active cases.�
