New study: Only reliable rapid corona tests make sense

Corona rapid tests are playing an increasingly important role. In nursing homes, old people's homes and hospitals, they fulfil an especially important function: infectious people can be detected quickly and other people can be better protected against corona.

But how reliable are the test results? Researchers at the Charité hospital in Berlin, led by virologist Prof. Christian Drosten, have now examined both the specificity and sensitivity of different tests. The specificity provides information on whether all healthy people who have been tested are recognised as healthy. The sensitivity indicates whether all sick people are also recognised as sick.

The NADAL® COVID-19 Ag rapid test from nal von minden GmbH was one of the best three tests evaluated: the specificity was 99.26 percent. In terms of sensitivity, the NADAL® COVID-19 Ag rapid test also scored outstandingly well in the Charité study. Roland Meißner, managing director of nal von minden GmbH: "We are pleased about the confirmation of the very good quality of our rapid test.

"A total of 105 swab samples were analysed with the NADAL® COVID-19 Ag rapid test in the Charité study". The swabs were previously taken from the mouth or nasopharynx of patients, placed in a tube with liquid transport medium and frozen at minus 20 degrees Celsius until the examination. Subsequently, comparative tests were carried out in the laboratory in comparison to PCR.

The Charité's methodology differs slightly from clinical studies conducted by nal von minden GmbH. Tobias Roth, biochemist with a focus on virology: "We use the swabs directly on the antigen test. Charité, on the other hand, put the swabs in a liquid transport medium. As a result, the samples were diluted and the results determined by a different evaluation method".