A new test to make life easier for parents? An antigenic test should soon be released on the market to detect, especially in children, three viruses at the same time, Covid, influenza and RSV, responsible for bronchiolitis.
The product has already been tested by some young children, such as 8-year-old Hanna, who tries it out in a doctor’s office in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, in the Val-de-Marne. It comes in the form of a tube that the patient must insert into the nose.
“I put it in one nostril, I turn it around four times,” explains the little girl in front of our cameras.
Refine diagnosis and prescription
Although not yet for sale, the device has already been tested by some doctors and allows them to have a better view of the scope of certain epidemics.
“Today, 30% of our tests come back positive for RSV, but that’s not surprising because the RSV epidemic started on October 1 and is still in full swing,” says Robert Cohen, a pediatric infectious disease specialist.
In addition, this type of test should allow health professionals to refine their diagnosis, as well as their prescription of drugs in case of contamination of a patient with a virus.
“There is a tension in the supply of amoxicillin in adults, but also in children. This triple test will allow in many cases to avoid taking antibiotics for free”, greets pharmacist Pierre-Olivier Variot, president of the Union of Pharmaceutical Communities (USPO).
Tested with more than 1000 children
At the moment, still in the evaluation phase, the antigenic test is not available for sale in pharmacies.
“It is a test that is already being evaluated in a hundred pediatric centers and structures in France. More than 1,000 children have already been tested with (this test),” says Fabien Larue, director of the AAZ laboratory.
The High Health Authority (HAS), which maintains surveillance of existing devices and their usefulness in the event of an epidemic, indicates that this test has not yet been seized.
Source: BFM TV
