Jonathan Kamens 86 47Jan 13
Our stock of rapid #COVID tests¹ is finally nearly used up, time to replenish.
We considered the #Altruan #PlusLife reader and tests, but it's sufficiently expensive that I don't think it's justifiable unless you need to run tests extremely frequently.²
Furthermore, it turns out that you can order bulk rapid tests from https://altruan.com/ that, even with the cost of shipping to the U.S., cost *less than $2 per test*.³ This is what we ended up deciding to do. Check it out!
#CovidIsNotOver
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Show threadMaxi 10x 💉Jan 13
@jik In defense of PlusLife: There are lots of cases in which rapid tests don’t show a test line but the person clearly does show typical covid symptoms, while the flu isn’t currently circulating etc. That’s what got me to upgrade. (There are btw. ~20 % coupon codes for private persons but I don’t know if they would work with over sea orders.)
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 47
@frumble 🤷 a negative rapid test is a pretty good indication that you aren't currently contagious with COVID, because it tests the concentration of COVID RNA in your nasal passages, and the primary means of COVID spread is exhalations from infected people.
Just because you have COVID symptoms doesn't mean you have contagious COVID.
There is no such thing as "flu isn't currently circulating;" there are just peaks and valleys, never zero.
There are other things that cause "typical COVID symptoms."
Jan 13 at 1:54amWeb
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 47Jan 13
@frumble You're absolutely correct that PlusLife is more accurate. I neither said nor implied otherwise.
What I said was I don't think the extra accuracy is sufficiently to justify the $300 (+ shipping) reader unless you're going to use it often.
Your calculus may be different, e.g., if you need to test often, you have frequent potential exposures, or it's especially important for you to have accurate results for whatever reason.
Show threadMaxi 10x 💉Jan 13
@jik I know, I know, the flu isn’t actually gone anytime but there are good public incidence numbers about when to assume it’s currently extremely unlikely to get infected with the flu. I want to seriously stress that a negative rapid test isn’t (anymore) a clear indicator whether you are infectious or not. In Germany, with those cheap r. tests, covid cautious folks often use several different brands and they score all over the place, sometimes better with a variant family, sometimes way worse.
Show threadMaxi 10x 💉Jan 13
@jik It’s super common in the covid cautious community to hear stories about someone repeatedly testing negative with or without symptoms and still infecting others, which are then testing positive etc. My trust in rapid tests has evaporated. Nevertheless, still a probably in 2/3 correct indicator and better than nothing every day.
Show threadikuoJan 13
@frumble @jik This is exactly what happened to me & why I finally got a Pluslife. I got covid last month & I suspect I got it from my son, who got sick about a week before I did. (Only other possibility is I got it while masked in public, which I admit is possible, but I believe less likely.) All his rapid tests were negative. Of course, I should have isolated him no matter what, but he was not amenable to that idea because of negative tests.
Show threadMaxi 10x 💉Jan 16

@ikuo1000 @jik »rapid antigen tests suck and false negative 70%+ at this point.«

https://jorts.horse/@dank/113829501302732333

𝐃𝐚𝐧 (@dank@jorts.horse)

rapid antigen tests suck and false negative 70%+ at this point. better tests are available, many locally, but they're not cheap https://lifehacker.com/where-to-find-a-pcr-covid-test-and-why-you-need-one-1850779459

jorts.horse
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 47Jan 16
@frumble @ikuo1000
1) Citation needed.
2) I addressed this in an earlier thread: https://federate.social/@jik/113269396859918198. TLDR: (1) the only odds you care about are odds of test failure × odds of having COVID; (2) rapid tests are independent, so multiple tests dramatically decreases the odds of false negative; (3) rapid tests fail primarily due to weak concentration, which partially correlates to contagion, further reducing risk as long as you test multiple times over several days (which you should).
Jonathan Kamens (@jik@federate.social)

Hello #CovidCautious folks! I just wrote something in another thread that I want to expand on here because I think it will be useful to people trying to calibrate their risk tolerance for #CovidSafety precautions at home. Specifically, I want to talk about how at-home rapid tests can significantly reduce risk, despite all you may have heard about how inaccurate they are. #COVID #CovidIsNotOver @novid@a.gup.pe 🧵1/9

federate.social
Show threadMaxi 10x 💉Jan 16

@jik @ikuo1000 Source is in thread: https://jorts.horse/@dank/113833160286343525

Of course, one should test multiple times with the rapid tests to be 'sure' but you still can’t be safe.
It’s also not all about not infecting others, it’s also about knowing your own infection to stop sportive activities for up to two months, knowing when to start lung exercises to prevent some form of worse outcome etc.

𝐃𝐚𝐧 (@dank@jorts.horse)

@justyourluck@masto.ai 69% sensitivity in '21 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9021531/ 47% in '23 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7316a2.htm 34.5% in '24 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(24)00430-4/fulltext I remember reading independent testing of [IIRC] 26 tests that compared individual brand sensitivity and found only 6 performing even as well as claimed. I don't have the article near to hand, will add to the thread if I find it again.

jorts.horse
Show threadJonathan Kamens 86 47Jan 16
@frumble @ikuo1000 I find that it's better for my mental health not to continue interacting with people here whose COVID-cautiousness is so extreme that it verges on paranoia.
👋 *plonk*