How early Covid-19 testing is saving lives

Scientists have advised members of the public to go for Covid-19 testing as soon as they start experiencing symptoms so as to enable early diagnosis.

Dr Mukuzi Muhereza, the secretary general of Uganda Medical Association (UMA), said early testing enables early treatment and better outcomes.

According to the Ministry of Health, late presentation to hospitals for treatment is linked to the rising Covid-19 death toll.
However, there have been cases where Covid-19 patients may falsely test negative. In his last Covid-19 update to the country, President Museveni said: “For example, the individual may have taken the test and the virus is no longer in the nose or throat, but the virus is in other parts of the body or it has already started the “body panic crisis,” which in some cases may lead to death.”

According to Dr Misaki Wayengera, the head of the government scientific advisory committee on Covid-19, such cases are referred to as presumptive or probable Covid-19.

Dr Monica Musenero, the minister in-charge of Science, Technology and Innovation in the Office of the President, said in such scenarios, the test turns out to be negative but the virus may continue to make the person sick and even cause death.

Dr Wayengera said many presumptive cases have been registered in the country but the person will present symptoms that the doctor can use to still make a diagnosis of Covid-19.

Asked whether this is caused by late testing, Dr Wayengera said: “It is just the sensitivity of the test. All tests have level of sensitivity. There is window period, the test is not sensitive enough to pick the virus because the virus has not built up in the body.”

Sensitivity in testing
He added: “That’s why government decided to give free tests for those with symptoms. We don’t do that blindly, the sensitivity is highest when people have started to develop symptoms.”

The best time for one to go for the Covid-19 test is between the sixth and the eighth day when the symptoms start, according to Dr Wayengera.

On what one should do in case of a presumptive test, experts said, it depends on how serious the disease is.  If an individual is sick, health workers use symptoms and other laboratory tests suggestive of Covid-19, or use chest x-ray and scans, which show a typical picture consistent with the virus.

“This false negative can be difficult to deal with since doctors are not sure whether to put the patient on a Covid ward or not. Covid wards have sometimes amenities other wards may not have such as various levels of oxygen supply and more intensive care facilities,” Dr Musenero said.

She added: “It is now left to the discretion of the attending physician to decide what is best for the patient.”