Coronavirus rapid test simplified

Only a swab from the anterior nasal passage is required

Coronavirus rapid tests from nal von minden GmbH (Germany), already well-reviewed and widely used, have undergone another stage of development. A swab taken from the anterior nasal passage is now all that is needed to carry out a test, rather than from the posterior nasal passage or oropharynx as was previously necessary. The NADAL® COVID-19 Ag Test is available all over Europe from the 22nd February.

“It’s much more comfortable when the sample can be taken from the anterior nasal passage” says Roland Meißner, CEO at nal von minden GmbH, which is based in Germany. Above all, it is much easier to carry out: Just two and a half centimetres are enough. The swab need only be swirled around the inner nostril a few times to collect enough sample material.

“The simpler the rapid test is carry out, the more people will use it” says Meißner, “and in turn the pandemic can be better and more quickly contained.”

There are many professional groups which need to be regularly tested, such as carers, doctors and even teachers. For them, says Meißner, an easy-to-use rapid test will play a large role in the future.

In order for the results, which can be read after 15 minutes, to be truly meaningful, the quality of the rapid tests is of utmost importance. The NADAL® COVID-19 Ag Test can be considered highly trustworthy. The diagnostic specificity is more than 99.9 %, and the sensitivity 97.56 %. The specificity indicates whether seemingly healthy people who get tested are in fact healthy, while the sensitivity illustrates whether all sick people are to be identified as such.

“According to our findings, it is preferable to take sample material from the nose rather than use saliva,” says Meißner. “In saliva, there is an abundance of enzymes that attack and destroy free viral proteins. In the nose, on the other hand, there are fewer of these. This means that an individual with coronavirus can be confidently identified using a nasal swab.” If using a saliva sample, it is also possible that food remnants can affect and falsify results.

The quality of our earlier NADAL® COVID-19 Ag tests – which only differed in that swabs were taken from the mouth or nasopharynx – has already been scientifically evaluated on several occasions, including by the University Hospital Charité in Berlin. The German federal government has included the NADAL® test in its national testing strategy. The NADAL® Covid-19 Ag rapid test has already been utilised millions of times all over Europe throughout the coronavirus pandemic.