My gut said to trust the Binax more, too, especially since he was symptomatic. I don’t know if I would have felt the same if it was asymptomatic. It just seems weird when general rule of thumb is “trust the PCR, not the rapid.”
I did the state testing basically as a formality and to get it recorded. I was totally shocked that it came back negative.
Then I put my tin foil hat on and started to wonder if that was intentional…that the state would choose a less accurate option to push out for everyone to use. It’s Iowa. Pretty sure our Governor just wants our numbers to look good, at any cost.
I think the “trust the PCR” thing was true before we had really good antigen tests, and it’s hard to shake. As of June, though, the only time CDC recommends a confirmatory PCR is in a symptomatic person with a negative antigen test.
My gut said to trust the Binax more, too, especially since he was symptomatic. I don’t know if I would have felt the same if it was asymptomatic. It just seems weird when general rule of thumb is “trust the PCR, not the rapid.”
I did the state testing basically as a formality and to get it recorded. I was totally shocked that it came back negative.
Then I put my tin foil hat on and started to wonder if that was intentional…that the state would choose a less accurate option to push out for everyone to use. It’s Iowa. Pretty sure our Governor just wants our numbers to look good, at any cost.
I think the “trust the PCR” thing was true before we had really good antigen tests, and it’s hard to shake. As of June, though, the only time CDC recommends a confirmatory PCR is in a symptomatic person with a negative antigen test.
ETA: this article also says they don’t recommend saliva PCR for confirmation.
I should always know to check with GBCN on this stuff!
Of course, Iowa has free saliva tests for everyone. Mailed to your house on request, which is handy…but not if it’s not accurate. Our Governor is trying to kill us. (Though I’m confused between a saliva PCR, which is what the state says these are, and a saliva NAAT, which almost every piece of research I find is about.) Edit: Found my answer…in case anyone else is wondering, PCR tests are a type of NAAT test.
This article reports on a study that finds all of the vaccines are very good at preventing hospitalization and death but Moderna might be the most effective of the three in the U.S.
I know there is science on how to tease out other relevant factors from data (e.g., Pfizer was approved first and therefore the populations may be different and some people got it longer ago), but I assume it's pretty complicated and that this isn't the final word.