When and How to Take an At Home COVID 19 Test
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That’s why the best test is really “the one you can find on the shelves at your local store,” Kissler says, adding that most of the tests “have pretty comparable sensitivity and specificity for detecting SARS-CoV-2,” which is the official name of the virus that causes COVID-19. If you are purchasing your test online from an unfamiliar retailer, be sure to confirm that the product has emergency use authorization from the FDA , since the agency has seen fraudulent test kits being sold on the internet. This should be clearly marked on the box. You can also for a list of authorized COVID tests. Another tip: Check the label for how long the results take ; that could make or break your decision to go with one brand over another. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that the coronavirus was accurately detected by rapid antigen tests in 87 percent of hospital patients with symptomatic COVID-19 and 71 percent with asymptomatic cases of the illness. When it comes to omicron, the in late December that said antigen tests do detect the new variant, “but may have reduced sensitivity.” False positives are rare with rapid antigen tests, Gronvall adds. So if you test positive with an at-home test, you likely have COVID and should isolate yourself from others . You can always confirm the diagnosis with a follow-up PCR test or another antigen test, since "the accuracy of your result goes up with multiple tests,” Gronvall explains.
If the results are negative, it means the test didn’t detect the virus, but it , the CDC says. It could be that your infection is in the early stages and you don’t have enough virus in your sample for the test to turn positive. Repeating the test at least 24 hours later will paint a clearer picture. Some home kits come with two tests for this very reason. “Of course, [home tests] don't bring the risk of bringing infection to a gathering down to zero, but they do reduce the odds by an awful lot,” Kissler says. And remember: A negative test is just a snapshot of your status at that moment in time. “[It] really doesn't clear you for very long — basically just that day and maybe the next day,” he adds.
How a COVID Home Test Works and When to Use One
More health experts recommend swabbing before socializing to slow the spread of the virus
Scott Olson / Getty Images Health officials are increasingly emphasizing the importance of rapid at-home testing as a way to help slow the spread of , especially with the highly contagious omicron variant driving up new cases to record-breaking numbers. These over-the-counter tests, which first showed up on drugstore shelves in the spring of 2021, require a quick swab of the nose and deliver results in about 15 minutes. And soon their price tag could drop from about $20 a box to zero, as moves to distribute some by mail and have private insurance companies reimburse the cost of purchased kits for people on their health plans . Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. How reliable are these tests? And when should you consider taking one? Top experts answer common questions and offer helpful tips for taking a COVID test at home.How do rapid home tests work
Similar to many COVID tests administered at doctor 's offices and testing sites, an at-home version can determine whether you’re infected with the coronavirus by way of a sample swabbed from your nose. These tests, called antigen tests, work by looking for the presence of specific proteins associated with the coronavirus. If they are detected, a positive result appears on a test strip in a matter of minutes, much like a home pregnancy test. “And that's helpful because that then allows you to make individualized decisions about how you keep yourself away from other folks, how you get your medical care and how you stop transmission cycles with your behavior,” Cameron Wolfe, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at Duke Health and an associate professor at the Duke University School of Medicine, explained in a recent briefing.When should you take an at-home test
Even if you’re fully vaccinated, it makes sense to pull out an at-home test if you’re having symptoms of COVID-19 or have been exposed to the illness, says . It’s also recommended to self-swab before gathering indoors with others — whether that’s dinner with a small group of friends, a with family or a large event, such as a concert. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > A rapid test done from the convenience of home, however, provides “immediate, actionable results,” says Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an associate professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “ , don't be around other people , because you've got infectious virus in your nose. So it's a good public health tool for making sure that people who are potentially contagious stay to themselves.” The key is taking the test as close to your plans as possible — aim for the same day, explained Matthew Binnicker, director of clinical virology at the Mayo Clinic, in a recent briefing. “That's going to give you the best information [on] whether someone has high amounts of the virus in their system at that time.”The types of COVID tests
PCR test: A type of molecular test that looks for an active coronavirus infection by detecting genetic material from the virus. A sample is usually obtained by a nose swab, although a throat swab or sal iva sample will also do the trick. You can get these tests at a doctor 's office or testing site. Because these tests are analyzed in a laboratory, it can take a day or more to get results back. These tests are considered the most accurate available. Rapid test: Also known as an antigen test, this type of test looks for pieces of protein from the coronavirus, usually by way of a nasal swab. Rapid tests — which can be administered in a doctor 's office, a pharmac y or at home — deliver results much faster (about 15 minutes) than PCR tests, since they don’t need to be analyzed at a laboratory. The tests are considered accurate when there is a large amount of virus in the body but may miss an early infection. Antibody test: This type of test can help determine if you’ve already had COVID-19; it does not identify a current infection. Using a blood sample, the test looks for antibodies produced by your immune system to fight off an infection. Fully vaccinated? Just know that COVID-19 vaccination may cause a positive result for some but not all antibody tests, the FDA says. Source: Yale Medicine/FDAWhich home test is best
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized several over-the-counter home testing kits, and a handful are already available at pharmacies and major retailers, although may make them difficult to track down in some areas.That’s why the best test is really “the one you can find on the shelves at your local store,” Kissler says, adding that most of the tests “have pretty comparable sensitivity and specificity for detecting SARS-CoV-2,” which is the official name of the virus that causes COVID-19. If you are purchasing your test online from an unfamiliar retailer, be sure to confirm that the product has emergency use authorization from the FDA , since the agency has seen fraudulent test kits being sold on the internet. This should be clearly marked on the box. You can also for a list of authorized COVID tests. Another tip: Check the label for how long the results take ; that could make or break your decision to go with one brand over another. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that the coronavirus was accurately detected by rapid antigen tests in 87 percent of hospital patients with symptomatic COVID-19 and 71 percent with asymptomatic cases of the illness. When it comes to omicron, the in late December that said antigen tests do detect the new variant, “but may have reduced sensitivity.” False positives are rare with rapid antigen tests, Gronvall adds. So if you test positive with an at-home test, you likely have COVID and should isolate yourself from others . You can always confirm the diagnosis with a follow-up PCR test or another antigen test, since "the accuracy of your result goes up with multiple tests,” Gronvall explains.
If the results are negative, it means the test didn’t detect the virus, but it , the CDC says. It could be that your infection is in the early stages and you don’t have enough virus in your sample for the test to turn positive. Repeating the test at least 24 hours later will paint a clearer picture. Some home kits come with two tests for this very reason. “Of course, [home tests] don't bring the risk of bringing infection to a gathering down to zero, but they do reduce the odds by an awful lot,” Kissler says. And remember: A negative test is just a snapshot of your status at that moment in time. “[It] really doesn't clear you for very long — basically just that day and maybe the next day,” he adds.