In recent weeks, Lancet has been put on the spot after some of those
who went for Covid-19 tests at the facility tested positive and later tested
negative at KEMRI.
The most recent case involved 17 members of staff of St
Andrew’s Turi who tested positive for Coronavirus but later tested negative
when they went for a second test.
Lancet CEO Dr Ahmed Kalebi on Wednesday set the record
straight as he sought to explain the conflicting results among patients.
He used an analogy of two photos of a pimpled face taken at
different times using different cameras.
“A photo of a face that shows pimple(s) may be looked at
differently e.g. expert cosmetic dermatologist may interpret what they see in
finer details compared to a non-expert medical person or a layperson.
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“The level of knowledge thus affects interpretation of
results,” he tweeted.
Dr Kalebi stated that the tests conducted by Lancet are very
specific and maintained that positive results are real.
Through a newsletter seen by Ureport, Lancet added that
false-negative results may occur in up to 20% of swabs done especially in mild
or asymptomatic individuals.
It stated that a low positive result may be followed by a
second negative swab if;
- The patient is near the end of their infection
- The second swab was not taken from infected epithelium
- The patient is an intermittent secretor and was not
secreting the virus when the swab was taken
- The second result was obtained using a less sensitive assay
than the first one
Lancet further said that a negative result can be followed
by a positive one if;
- The first swab was taken just before virus secretion begun
- The first swab was not taken from infected epithelium
- The patient is an intermittent secretor and was not
secreting the virus when the swab was taken
- The first result was obtained using a less sensitive assay
than the second one
