Mir in eOnly seriously ill people seem really immune»
Rapid tests are flourishing. But those who have had a corona disease are not immune. New studies show that this only applies to seriously ill people.
The lockdown is over. That means: back to work, going to the bar at the end of the day and going to the Grosi with the children at the weekend!
The only problem is that the corona virus is not gone. In order to lead a normal life again, we need certainty: are we at risk? Or contagious? Have we perhaps already passed the disease without noticing it?
Rapid tests promise answers. And the choice is huge. From health consultants to discounters to erotic companies - the offers come from every corner: antibody tests that show whether someone has had an infection in the past and has formed antibodies against the virus. A lucrative business for the providers - a trap for customers looking for certainty. Because most rapid tests are unreliable and therefore dangerous.
Slow but reliable
But since the beginning of May there have also been high quality solutions. The new antibody test from pharmaceutical giant Roche achieves top reliability levels. However, it is not really fast: it can only be evaluated in laboratories - with machines from the Roche company at a unit price of CHF 2 million. Last Wednesday, the Quotient company from Vaud announced another Swiss company to start testing. But the quotient test also only works on the company's own equipment.
Now the start-up Convirm DX from Rorschacherberg SG announces a new antibody test for Switzerland. "Its reliability is at Roche level," says CEO Christoph Huser (52). «He doesn't need any other equipment. The process takes less than three minutes. »
Canadian test for Europe
The test is being produced by the Canadian medtech company Medmira in Halifax. The company has been developing rapid tests for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis for 20 years. Now she has received certification for the European market for her new Sars CoV-2 test. The authorization from the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) awaits you in the next few days. The Convirm team brings the product to Europe and Switzerland.
The test is mobile and can be used on site. "He sifts out in the field, then treatment of the individual case follows," says Convirm CEO Huser. "We can quickly test large groups for antibodies and do triage: in asylum accommodation, large companies, in the nursing and hospital sector, in the fire service or in the army." Huser is convinced: "Such measures are essential to assess and control the spread of the pandemic." As for other tests, the following also applies: "It should be carried out by experts."
Tests do not prove immunity
What if the test shows that the infection has passed? Are we immune then? "The antibody test shows whether you were in contact with the virus," says epidemiologist Marcel Tanner (67) from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel. "It doesn't show whether you're immune to being infected again." To do this, it must be checked whether the antibodies can also neutralize the virus. There are now several international studies showing which patients have this. The result: "Only seriously ill people seem really immune," says Tanner. So if you have a disease with mild or no symptoms, you are not protected from being infected again.
But that doesn't change the importance of testing. "There will be no nationwide second wave," says Tanner. «But there will always be transmission nests. We have to catch them - with contact tracing, testing and appropriate quarantine. »
Contact tracing has been reactivated in all cantons since May 11th. The federal government calls on all people with symptoms to be tested. But there is criticism of this approach. The Zurich economics professor Ernst Fehr (63) accuses the Federal Council of amateur behavior. Representative random samples of the population are needed, he says in an interview with SonntagsBlick. "The suggestion is very good," says Andreas Cerny, (64), virologist at the Corona reference hospital Moncucco in Lugano TI. Such samples are already being carried out at regional level. A study in the canton of Ticino with 4,700 health care workers makes people sit up and take notice: Almost ten percent of those tested had contact with the virus.
No franchise test
Who should pay for the tests? At the end of April, the Federal Council decided: The cantons bear the cost of tests that are carried out on the basis of symptoms. Health insurance companies pay for patients who can be tested and treated in hospital. If the franchise is not exhausted, the patient is asked to pay. SP National Councilor Barbara Gysi (56) does not agree: «Many people have high franchises because the premiums are too high. If they cannot be tested because of this, it can have bad consequences. » For the health politician it is clear: "All test costs must be borne by the public sector.