According to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, about 40% of all the people tested positive for coronavirus infection across all the age groups were found to be asymptomatic. This data was presented by the doctors while discussing the sensitivity and use of several detection tests at the recent National Grand Rounds, which is a virtual platform for doctors throughout the country to discuss current trends and issues in COVID-19 management.

The highest proportion of asymptomatic cases was documented among children < 12 years of age with 73.5%. The proportion declined linearly with age and only 38.4% of the cases were those above the age of 80 years old of being asymptomatic.

Dr Urvashi Singh, Professor, department of microbiology, AIIMS said that the data is from their centre and the importance a rises in the question of the validity of an RT PCR test. Because there are no symptoms in numerous patients, they don’t know on which day they are sampling them. The information from the centre had shown that the most common symptoms of coronavirus were fever, fatigue and loss of smell.

The doctors said CBNAAT or TrueNattests are cartridge- or chip-based quick molecular tests and are beneficial in semi-emergent patients, while reviewing the present detection tests available in the market.

Dr Randeep Guleria, Director at AIIMS said that in emergency cases, one should keep thinking that the person is positive and take all the necessary precautions. But, in semi-emergency cases, CBNAAT and TrueNat are effective tests giving accurate results quickly and also help in deciding whether a surgery should be conducted at the COVID-19 centre.

The doctors further added that benefits of the less sensitive rapid antigen test can quickly help in screening a positive person in the hospital in an emergency case and allow immediate treatment, such as in the case of a 65-year-old man who came in emergency with sepsis to the hospital.

Dr Pawan Tiwari, Assistant professor, department of pulmonology, AIIMS said that the Rapid Antigen Test is a beneficial tool for screening along with early diagnosis and can help in triaging patients in the emergency and allowing rapid treatment. This is particularly correct in the low resource setting centre.

The Indian Council of Medical Research has recommended molecular tests as the ideal method in hospital settings.

Source: Hindustan Times