Home » The Regions propose do-it-yourself tampons, no of science: “False result in 1 out of 2”. Experts opposed to the extension to 72 hours

The Regions propose do-it-yourself tampons, no of science: “False result in 1 out of 2”. Experts opposed to the extension to 72 hours

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Use not only rapid or molecular swabs, but also use self-administered swabs, or ‘do it yourself’ tests. In view of the deadline of October 15, when the green pass will become mandatory for all workers, there is a fear of an increase in the demand for tampons by the millions of Italians not yet vaccinated. A question that will however be difficult to sustain by the system and for this reason the Regions propose to use, in fact, even the most immediate do-it-yourself tests. However, the proposal sees the scientists opposed, who underline the reduced reliability of these tests and also consider the idea of ​​extending the validity of all swabs to 72 hours “risky”.

The idea of ​​using self-administered tampons comes from the president of the Conference of Regions Massimiliano Fedriga, who stresses the need to have “applicable” measures. In fact, he clarifies, “we have already raised the need for the measures to be applied also from an organizational point of view. We are talking about almost 5 million people involved, not vaccinated, who could ask for a swab. I have doubts: if there are alternative tools such as self-administration, controlled, they are welcome. Nasal tampons are already sold in pharmacies today. The alternatives must be evaluated ».

Instead, he re-launched the request to extend the validity of all tampons to 72 hours and to make them free for workers, the leader of the Lega Matteo Salvini. Proposals that are however rejected by scientists, who warn of the risks. The do-it-yourself swabs for the diagnosis of positivity to the SarsCoV2 virus “have a reduced reliability and I do not think it is appropriate to think of using them for the purposes of the green pass”, says Massimo Ciccozzi, director of the Medical Statistics and Molecular Epidemiology Unit of the Campus Bio-doctor of Rome. These tests, he points out, “have only 50-51% reliability, so it’s like flipping a coin. Obviously they are useful in cases of emergency in which there are no alternatives, but using them for the purposes of the green pass for returning to work is unacceptable ».

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As for the extension of the validity of the swabs to 72 hours, «I think that even 48 hours of validity are too many. Therefore, a duration of 72 hours I believe has no validity from an epidemiological point of view and represents a risk ». The swab, in fact, «provides a data relative to that moment about the positivity or negativity to the virus of an individual, but it is obvious that within the next 48 and even more 72 hours one can become infected. I understand that this is a cost problem for unvaccinated workers, but from an epidemiological point of view, extending the validity of the test is not appropriate ».

The opinion of Patrizia Laurenti, director of the Hospital Hygiene Operating Unit at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, is also clear, according to which the tool of the tampon itself raises concerns, which “cannot be considered adequate for securing the community, all the more for the purposes of the green pass “. The vaccine, he notes, “is the only real tool that leads to the management of the pandemic and we must instead avoid the risk of the country becoming a ‘tampon factory'”. As for the duration of 72 hours, “this – he says – is inconceivable from the point of view of preventive effectiveness and would only be a maneuver to make costs more sustainable”. “Do-it-yourself” swabs are even “more inopportune,” he insists, also because in doing the self-sampling, a technical skill that not everyone can have is still necessary “. At the moment, the president of Federfarma Marco Cossolo points out, do-it-yourself tampons pose the problem of tracing and “we need to find a mechanism that allows us to trace the positivity or non-positivity of the person, but there is also a problem of validity of the test itself. All the other pads used – he concludes – instead have a marking, and it is the professional who performs them to guarantee it ».

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