Solon urges DOH to discourage rapid antibody test for COVID-19 screening

Cagayan De Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez has urged the Department of Health (DOH) to discourage the use of rapid antibody test (RAT) to screen people for COVID-19 infection and instead promote reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or swab test.

Rodriguez's call is covered in House Resolution 1146, which he filed on August 19 but was shared with the media only on Monday.

In his resolution, Rodriguez said while RT-PCR shows actual presence of virus, RAT “can only detect antibodies, which the body produces in response to an infectious agent such as a virus.”

Despite the inaccuracies of RAT, though, many business establishments are still using it to screen employees returning to work, he added.

The lawmaker also quoted in his resolution the opinion of some experts in calling on DOH to discourage RAT.

Microbiologist-scientist Prof. Marilen Balolong of the University of the Philippines Manila, for one, said that RT-PCR is at least 97% accurate, while RAT’s reliability is 30% to 80%, according to him.

“There have been plenty of reports that these rapid tests produce false positive and false negative results,” he said.

Meanwhile, pulmonary and critical care specialist Dr. Anna York Bondoc, a former congresswoman from Pampanga, has called on DOH to stop the use of RAT “because they are highly inaccurate," Rodriguez said.

“As a result, many people are put in quarantine because of false positive results, while some who are infected with the new coronavirus but are cleared are spreading the disease,” he added, quoting Bondoc.

Rodriguez also said that Bondoc “believes that wrong clinical decisions made with inaccurate results from rapid tests have been fueling the rise in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila."

"Now therefore, be it resolved by the House of Representatives to urge the Department of Health to immediately discourage the use of rapid testing in screening people for COVID-19," he said.

Under the proposed Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, P3 billion has been allocated for RT-PCR testing and personal protective equipment for health workers, while P10 billion has also been set aside as standby fund for COVID-19 medicines and vaccine.—AOL, GMA News