Rapid antigen tests have reduced sensitivity in detecting the more transmissible omicron COVID-19 variant, said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), citing early data based on laboratory studies.
MANILA – Rapid antigen tests have reduced sensitivity in detecting the more transmissible omicron COVID-19 variant, said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), citing early data based on laboratory studies. The FDA partnered with the US National Institute of Health’s RADx program to test patient samples containing the live virus, presently existing omicron variant in patients, and found that „antigen tests do detect the omicron variant but may have reduced sensitivity.“ Tests were previously done on rapid antigen tests with ‚heat-inactivated‘ omicron variant samples, which are samples of the virus that are no longer live.
