Bangladesh has finally started conducting antigen tests for Covid-19, becoming the second last South Asian nation to do so.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) first expressed support for the introduction of antibody and antigen tests in the country in June.
According to national dailies of South Asian countries, the region saw the start of antigen testing in three countries last week.
Just hours before Bangladesh, Pakistan conducted its first antigen tests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 10 cases were detected. Nepal introduced antigen tests on November 30.
Afghanistan is now the only country where antigen tests are yet to be conducted.
India was the first country in the sub-continent to start antigen tests in June, while Bhutan started antigen tests between late July and early August. The Maldives introduced antigen tests in October, while Sri Lanka started them in early November.
‘Antigen tests useful for emergency cases’
Bangladesh Health Minister Zahid Maleque inaugurated the much-awaited antigen-based rapid tests in 10 districts of the country that lack rt-PCR test facilities.
The 10 districts selected by the DGHS are Panchagarh, Gaibandha, Joypurhat, Patuakhali, Meherpur, Munshiganj, Brahmanbaria, Jessore, Madaripur and Sylhet.
In the virtual program to inaugurate antigen testing at Jessore Government Hospital, the health minister said the tests must be conducted accurately and in accordance with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“A policy has been formulated to conduct the tests and they will be very cheap, costing only Tk100,” he added.
Antigen tests only need 20-30 minutes for results, making them useful in emergency cases, Zahid Maleque said.
The health minister also said the government was continuing its efforts to get vaccines for the people as soon as possible. In the meantime, people must give importance to wearing masks and following health guidelines.
DGHS Additional Director General (Planning and Development) Meerjady Sabrina Flora said a suspected Covid-19 patient must take the antigen tests within six to seven days of the onset of symptoms.
She added that the government had primarily arranged the tests for free.
“If any suspected patient with strong symptoms tests negative in antigen tests, he has to go through the rt-PCR test as well,” Dr Flora further said.
The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) has provided necessary training for conducting antigen tests to the required manpower of the 10 districts.
The process of starting rapid tests in the country gained momentum when the DGHS expressed its support for the introduction of antibody and antigen tests in June.
In late August, the health minister announced the government's decision to approve antigen tests, which was made official on September 21.
In October, the government announced that it was buying 200,000 antigen test kits. At the same time, the DGHS, through the IEDCR, tested several antigen kits. Finally, with kits in hand, the DGHS has now started the tests.
Antigen-based tests
Rapid antigen tests are commonly used in the diagnosis of respiratory pathogens, including influenza viruses and respiratory syncytial virus, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Antigen tests are immunoassays that detect the presence of a specific viral antigen, which implies current viral infection. They are relatively inexpensive and can be used at the point-of-care.
Antigen tests for Sars-CoV-2 are generally less sensitive than viral tests that detect nucleic acid using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Rapid antigen tests perform best when the person is tested in the early stages of infection with Sars-CoV-2, when the viral load is generally highest, CDC says.
There is limited data to guide the use of rapid antigen tests as screening tests on asymptomatic persons to detect or exclude Covid-19, or to determine whether a previously confirmed case is still infectious, the CDC added.
