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How the rapid test works - Coggle Diagram
How the rapid test works
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The Antigen test, better known as the rapid test, is generally used for patients who are already showing symptoms
It is administered trough the nasal cavity and is looking for a protein or nucleic acid that is part of the virus.
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It will only test positive if it finds viral nucleic acid because it is testing for the active virus
This then means that the tests aren't as accurate as the PCR tests because they are just searching for a specific protein and the PCR test is looking at the DNA
Once you get the results back if they are positive you should go get a PCR test because the rapid tests are less accurate.
If the result is negative and you are showing symptoms then you should also go get a PCR test just to be sure
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The protein is on the outside of the cell making it much easier to find and doesn't take as long to detect