Faulty covid testing kits give dubious results

Two years have passed since the coronavirus pandemic gripped the country, but Sindh is yet to chalk out a uniform policy on the diagnosis of various infections, including Covid.

Nearly 80 per cent of the testing kits, imported from different countries, are cheap and substandard, producing inaccurate results. Moreover, patients have to pay a heavy price for such cheap kits.

Observers say a few large hospitals are using high standard kits which are produced by multinational companies and the results of these are considered accurate or error-free. On the other hand, the results of low-quality kits, used by most health facilities, are at best 50 per cent accurate. According to pathologists, the results of fully-automated kits are better than manual or cheaper ones.

Dow University Ojha Lab Provincial Director Dr Saeed Khan tells The Express Tribune that three types of kits are used for Covid testing in the country, including automation, semi-automation and manual. "Fully- automated kits do not involve the use of human hands. In the semi-automated kits, human hands are used sparingly. On the other hand, manual kits fully depend on the use of human hands, due to which the probability of human error in the test result is high."

Referring to the Covid patient test, he says if the technician has obtained the patient's sample with expertise and applied it for testing through automation, the results are perfectly accurate. "After receiving the patient's samples, they must be kept at the desired temperature," he states.

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He continues that if a patient's sample is taken and placed in sunlight or a warm place, the results will be radically different. Dr Khan states that samples must be shifted with extreme precaution so that the testing kits produce accurate results. "The results of the general Covid kits depend on the quality of the samples. The results of tests performed on normal kits are 50-50. However, the results of kits approved by the FDA are considered to be 95% accurate.

Kits for the diagnosis of Covid in Pakistan are currently being imported from China, Turkey, USA and European countries. Ironically, however, there is no uniform policy on the protocols for Covid testing in the country. This is why most small laboratories import cheap kits which produce dubious results.

It has often been observed that the results of Covid tests radically differ from one laboratory to another. The results of leading hospitals and the kits used there are recognised as authentic compared to results of ordinary labs.

Tests performed by the same lab give different reports the next day. For example, a Covid test may turn out a positive result one day and a negative one the very next day. The disparity of the diagnostic tests sent the patients into a state of confusion.

The registration and licencing of laboratories and hospitals in the province is the responsibility of the Sindh Healthcare Commission. It is an autonomous body operating under the Department of Health. However, the commission has not yet decided whether to ensure the use of World Health Organization and FDA-approved kits in all areas of the province and to announce a uniform-kits policy in all Sindh hospitals and labs.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2022.