Surge in demand for Covid self-test kits worries health officials

There are currently 2,640 pharmacies functioning in the district. Of the total, around 200 function as hospital dispensaries.
A pharmacist holding a Covid self-test kit at a medical shop in Ulloor. Increasing sale of self-test kits has raised concerns of cases going unreported | B P Deepu
A pharmacist holding a Covid self-test kit at a medical shop in Ulloor. Increasing sale of self-test kits has raised concerns of cases going unreported | B P Deepu

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The rising Covid cases in the district have led to the rampant sale of self-test kits. Those with mid-flu symptoms and who are planning to travel rely largely on the rapid antigen-test kits. However, health experts are concerned whether the increased use of home testing kits could lead to many positive cases going unreported.

Though the rapid antigen-test kits have been in the market for a few months now, the sales have gone up since December, following the Omicron scare. “ It has been two weeks since the sale of test kits hasincreased rapidly. In our shop, an average of 10-20 kits get sold out daily. The story is no different in other pharmacies in the area. With huge demand, different types of self testkits have also emerged,” said Subash S, owner of Gopika Medicals, Thirumala.

Those who test positive using the home testing kit and have mild symptoms need not isolate themselves. This has been one of the major concerns of pharmacists. “Ideally, a person using a self-test kit needs to log into the application of the brand concerned by scanning the QR code. Once the test is done, the users should take a picture through the app, this will automatically submit the results. However, many skip this step as there is no compulsion,” says Subash.

J Narayanan Thampi, district secretary, Chemists and Druggists association, says, “ The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has not laid any guidelines yet regarding the submission of the personal details when the kit is being bought. Though other states had brought guidelines making the Aadhaar card mandatory while buying self-test kits, it has not been implemented yet. The test kits fall in the price range of Rs 250 to Rs 350 and are easy to use.Though there are people who self isolate themsleves after testing positive, many cases can go unreported since there is no data entry from home testing kits.”

There are currently 2,640 pharmacies functioning in the district. Of the total, around 200 function as hospital dispensaries.

“Ever since December, there has been a 50 per cent increase in sales of self-test kits and some pharmacies are already experiencing a shortage,” said Narayanan.

A senior health official said though home tests show accurate positive results, one should not rely just on them as they can mislead sometimes. “ Hence, it is always good that those testing negative should always go for an RT-PCR test and confirm again. The increase in the use of self-test kits is also leading to many positive cases going unreported,” said the official.

Meanwhile, state drugs controller Jayan P M said, “There are no guidelines yet to record the details of those buying self-test kits. We are only ensuring that the test kits are licensed by the Drugs Controller General of India. Recently, we had seized testing kits that were being sold by a private company. Although other states have taken steps making it mandatory to produce an Aadhaar card to buy self-test kits, we won’t make a similar decision unless the instructions come from the state government,” Jayan

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com