Scots health board forced to deny surge in covid cases was down to tomato ketchup fooling tests
NHS Grampian have issued a statement stating that no condiment is capable of tricking the tests
NHS Grampian says all positive results from lateral flow devices are followed up with a PCR test (Image: Getty)
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NHS Grampian issued advice reassuring the public as they deal with an outbreak of the virus. The latest statistics show Moray has 81.4 cases per 100,000 area, significantly higher than the rate in the rest of the country. The health board has launched an incident management team (IMT) to try to bring the virus back under control, and is urging people to get tested even if they do not have symptoms. Door-to-door testing is being “heavily considered” for Elgin, the epicentre of the outbreak. NHS Grampian took to social media this afternoon to correct rife rumours that rising case numbers were due to people fooling tests.
Study: LFDs are inaccurate at diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infections in individuals with lower viral loads
The United Kingdom government plans to implement mass scale population testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection using Lateral Flow Devices (LFDs), yet the devices sensitivity is unknown.
A study published in the open access journal
PLOS Biology by Alan McNally at University of Birmingham, UK, and colleagues suggests while LFDs are highly effective in identifying SARS-CoV-2 in individuals with high quantities of viral RNA present on the test swab, they are inaccurate at diagnosing infections in individuals with lower viral loads.
LFDs are increasingly used to increase testing capacity and screen asymptomatic populations for SARS-CoV-2 infection in mass surveillance programs, yet there are few data indicating the performance of these devices. To determine the sensitivity of LFDs, researchers tested the nasopharyngeal swabs of 8,000 university students using the devices. Next, they validat