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Original poster

Are lateral flow tests rubbish?

8 replies

ssd · 28/03/2021 09:53

Are they a waste of time?
I've read recently they are very accurate but I've also read on here how they are giving false negative results so often.
I'm sort of relying on them with a situation I'm in, but now I don't know if I should trust them?

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 28/03/2021 09:55

They aren't that accurate with a fairly high false negative rate. They will pick up some asymptomatic cases that wouldn't otherwise be known about

ImTheWolfToday · 28/03/2021 09:57

They’re useful to pick up some asymptomatic / pre symptomatic cases that would otherwise be missed and therefore help to stop some spread as part of the bigger picture of measures. They’re not useful as a guarantee of your COVID status, nor as a way of testing with symptoms.
So, not perfect, but they are useful as one of a number of measures.

LadyPenelope68 · 28/03/2021 10:01

They’re useful to pick up Asymptomatic cases, but they’re not a guarantee of Covid status. What sort of situation are you relying on them for?

Original poster
ssd · 28/03/2021 10:04

I'm relying on them for asymptomatic testing but can't say anymore.

OP posts:
HarveySchlumpfenburger · 28/03/2021 10:05

They’re not useful as a guarantee of your COVID status, nor as a way of testing with symptoms.

Tbf to them, they are more accurate with symptoms than without, given that's what they were designed for.

They will pick up some asymptomatic cases that you wouldn't know about without testing, but it's probably best to assume that just because your LFT is negative it doesn't mean you definitely don't have covid.

HavfrueDenizKisi · 28/03/2021 10:06

Well I heard a scientist on radio 4 talk about them last week and he said that they are good at picking up cases that go onto have a high viral load and these cases tend to go on to infect more people. But they're not perfect and do miss some positive cases. But they are just another weapon in the arsenal.

Mindymomo · 28/03/2021 10:23

If you are relying on the best accurate tests, but don’t want to say why, Can you not get a PCR test done, privately. But the LFTs are better than nothing at picking up cases where you have no symptoms.

LadyPenelope68 · 28/03/2021 10:58

If you can’t say why you are wanting such accurate results, then others can’t really advise. You’d have to get a private PCR test done.

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