Antigen Test at-Home and self-testing

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhoea. These symptoms are usually mild and gradually start. Some people become infected but do not develop any symptoms and do not feel bad. Most people (about 80%) cured of the disease without requiring special care. About 1 in 6 people who contract the COVID-19 became seriously ill and develop difficulty breathing. Older people and those with underlying medical problems such as hypertension, heart problems or diabetes are more likely to develop serious diseases. People with fever, cough and difficulty breathing should seek medical advice.

Usually antigen tests/lateral flow tests do not require the prescription of a doctor in Italy. However, it is good to inform your doctor about the values ​​of the results in order to enable it to assess whether or not there is the need to prescribe a possible molecular tests.

This test is less accurate than the gold standard PCR test; however, the test accuracy has shown to be higher when used by trained laboratory staff.