Kolkata: The West Bengal Health Ministry has written to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) requesting it to change its guidelines on ‘immediate retest’ of a person who has tested negative in antigen test for COVID-19. This information was given by a West Bengal health ministry official, Tuesday.
In this season of flu, there are people who are negative in antigen tests at several fever clinics but as per the ICMR guidelines they should be sent for the RT-PCR test immediately, informed the official.
“We have a different opinion on this…, we think, a person who has tested negative in antigen tests, be sent for the Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test after a gap of at least three days and not immediately. We believe that the total viral load will show up by then proving the antigen tests conclusive,” the official said.
“We have written to the ICMR stating our observations and thus requested them to initiate a change in the guideline for retests,” the official, who is also part of the COVID-19 protocol committee added.
According to the official, who is also a medical practitioner, doctors at fever clinics in medical colleges and hospitals in the state need not immediately prescribe RT-PCR test but should look for clear symptoms of COVID-19 infections.
“Doctors at fever clinics are prescribing RT-PCR tests at random… but instead of prescribing a patient to go for RT-PCR test, they must look for clear symptoms like cough, breathlessness or loss of appetite and smell apart from fever. The patient can be a non-Covid-19 patient at a time when we are also having patients suffering from flu,” the official pointed out. He said several patients who took the RT-PCR test at different fever clinics were found to be suffering from flu and not coronavirus.
Since last week, antigen tests are being conducted in medical colleges and hospitals in this city and neighbouring districts.
West Bengal till Monday has reported 78,232 COVID-19 cases and 1,731 coronavirus deaths.