THE Health Ministry has cautioned the public against using Covid-19 test kits, sold online for home testing as the accuracy of the results are unknown.

“Firstly, we do not know the accuracy and the kit is not verified by the Institute for Medical Research. Secondly, the kit detects antibodies, not antigen,” director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah told The Malaysian Insight.

“Kits that are not registered with the Medical Devices Authority are illegal.”

Noor Hisham had said in a press conference last May the antibody test kit is not recommended for Covid-19 diagnosis.

This is because the presence of antibodies do not validate active infections while a negative result does not guarantee the person is not infected.

The test kits used by the Malaysian authorities are the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), or antigen rapid test kits (RT-Ag).

Sellers have been peddling antigen test kits on social media platforms such as Facebook.

Some are also selling antibody test kits and claim they work better than the antigen variant.

They claimed tests can be done at home without the aid of a health worker or without having to go to a hospital or clinic.

Checks showed the kits are priced between RM70 and RM110, depending on the brand and the seller.

One such advertisement claimed the Standard Q Ag test kits from South Korea can yield results between 15 and 30 minutes, adding that the RM88 kit is the same make of test kits used by the ministry.

Another seller selling the AccuFind Covid-19 RTK-Ag kits guaranteed 99% accuracy in the results.

The seller claimed the self-diagnostic test yields results within one to two minutes.

One seller promoting an antibody kit said although the RT-PCR test may become obsolete with future strains of the virus, the antibody may still work in such cases.

“Covid-19 season will likely last for minimum one to two years. It’s like the common flu, it will mutate and months later – potentially the next season will suffice – vaccines, even when formulated, will not work anymore.

“In case of any risk concerns, test yourself with the Covid-19 HomeTest Kit, *double test* (a few days apart), confirmation is the safest approach.

“Worse is there is a possibility future strains could render the PCR test obsolete, but the antibody test would still be valid,” the seller said in a promotional post. – January 23, 2021.