![]() ![]() "I don't have a single answer," Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. ![]() That's because it generally takes several days before the antigens reach levels detectable via testing with a nose swab.Ĭhicago's top doctor said there's no clear answer for how long it could take. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends people without symptoms wait five days after an exposure. "Even if it's not, you don't want to transmit another virus to someone else." This article has been updated to correctly refer to the Department of Health and Human Services.Canada Drops Vaccine Mandate, Won't Require Masks on Planes "We are still in a time where the most likely explanation for a respiratory infection is SARS-CoV-2," says Babady. Even mild symptoms can manifest into severe symptoms for someone else, especially if they're more at risk than you are, she notes. Regardless of your test results, if you're experiencing Covid-like symptoms, Babady recommends isolating if you can and masking indoors around others. In recent months, experts are also seeing cases of the flu and other respiratory viruses that are typically more common in the winter. In the U.S., allergies affect more than 50 million people per year, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. It's important to consider the possibility that you could just have a common cold or be experiencing allergies. "Classically, it was you had to have two tests over 24 hours that were negative before you'd really believe it," he says, "I've heard some discussion that maybe more testing over a longer period of time would be needed before you truly believe it." Many people already take multiple tests to confirm test results, but give thought to testing three times over three days, with 24 hours in between each test, if symptoms persist, Dieckhaus says. If you can't get a PCR test, test multiple times with at-home antigen tests over multiple days, according to Kevin Dieckhaus, chief of the division of infectious diseases at UConn Health. "If someone has a high suspicion of having BA.5 and their antigen test is negative, a PCR test will really rule it out," says Babady. Alternatively, the Covid-19 testing locators provided by CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid are great tools for setting up testing appointments. You can search for your local testing locations by using the Department of Health and Human Services' community-based testing site locator for Covid-19, which list the options for your state. ![]() PCR tests have always been more sensitive than antigen testing, says Babady, and are a great option if you're worried about the accuracy your at-home-test's results. In addition to the testing you're doing at home, consider getting a PCR test done if you have access to one. What to do if you test negative but still feel sick Medical professionals are more skilled at administering testing than the average person, and false negatives may be due to improper handling of the test by people at home, he says. With this in mind, Satti points to yet another possible cause of the prevalence of negative results: inaccurate application of at-home antigen tests. "People should still continue to do at-home testing."Īccording to a recent study in medRxiv, in the pre-print stage, there isn't a significant difference between the accuracy of at-home antigen tests at detecting the omicron variant compared to its accuracy detecting delta. "Until now, from all the data I'm seeing, the home testing is still working and sensitive enough to depend on," Satti says. Satti believes that people should still use at-home antigen tests if they're experiencing symptoms or have been exposed to someone with Covid. Satti, an infectious disease specialist and faculty member in the division of public health at Michigan State University. But at this time, infectious disease experts have not concluded that antigen testing cannot detect BA.5, and it is too early to make that claim, according to Mohamed Z.
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