Testing people for Covid-19 coronavirus can be difficult. Antigen tests, often used to check for the flu and strep, are simpler than most coronavirus tests — and potentially less reliable — but may offer a quicker route, the CDC says.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, says current technology makes it impossible to test every American for coronavirus. The United States, she says, will need a"breakthrough" in testing to screen large numbers of people.
According to Birx, that breakthrough is antigen testing. Often used to check for the flu and strep, antigen tests look for pieces of a virus -- often the proteins that cover its surface.That differs from most coronavirus tests, which look for the virus' genetic material and require a number of chemicals to run, many of which are in short supply. The tests can also take hours to run.
The tests essentially try to trap antigens -- structures on the surface of the virus -- but they have to be carefully tuned."Sometimes viruses may have special folds, or protein modifications on their surface, which can interfere with the process," said Gronvall. "And then, on top of the design part, you need to have enough of the virus in you to test positive," she added. Tests that look for RNA, the virus' genetic material, copy it over and over again.
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