Currently, in France, there are 3 ways to detect Covid-19, the disease caused by infection with the Sars-Cov-2 coronavirus: virological tests (RT-PCR), serological tests (taking blood) and antigen tests (sample from the nose, such as the PCR test).
So beware of “self-tests” which claim to allow screening for Covid-19 at home! Thus, on February 17, 2021, the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM) announced that it had suspended the marketing of a Covid… urinary self-test.
Called “Sars-CoV-2 Urine Antibody Rapid test”, this pseudo-screening test is supposed to work like a pregnancy test: you just have to urinate on it to find out if you are (or not) infected. by the coronavirus. Probably a scam: indeed, the ANSM explains that “we have no evidence of the effectiveness of this test, since the antibodies, in general, are not found in the urine“.
A self-test probably useless and not validated by the health authorities
Manufactured by the companies Inno-bio (in Shanghai) and Olisacare and distributed in France by the companies Biomadetech and Medic sante, the “Sars-CoV-2 Urine Antibody Rapid test” device has also not obtained all the authorizations necessary to be marketed on French territory.
“The sale of self-tests (except pregnancy tests) is also reserved for pharmacies.” adds the ANSM, which specifies that “as part of the state of health emergency (order of July 10, 2020) the use of self-tests is prohibited to detect the virus as well as antibodies directed against SARS-CoV-2.“
Faced with all these elements, the health authorities therefore believe that “use (…) Sars-CoV-2 Urine Antibody Rapid test self-tests, in the current context of the Covid-19 pandemic, is (…) likely to immediately compromise the public health interest“. Hence the decision to withdraw this product from the market.
Did you buy this self-test? “We ask people who have purchased these tests not to use them.” recommends the ANSM. To be tested against Covid-19 reliably, go to a pharmacy or a medical biology laboratory: the list of screening centers is available on the Ministry of Health website.
Read also :
- Coronavirus screening for children: is it compulsory?
- Covid-19 saliva tests: for whom? How? ‘Or’ What ?
- Covid-19 symptoms: duration, signs of worsening
