Belgian professor Hermann Goossens warns that cold temperatures increase the risk of a self-test with a false positive result.
“Keep the self-test and perform the self-test at room temperature”, Recommended this Tuesday in the opinion columns of newspapers of the Mediahuis group that owns media outlets in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland.
The scientist, who led the testing team in Belgium until September, when all family members he invited to the Christmas party were tested “weak positive”, still outside, at 8 degrees Celsius. When they all repeated the tests in one at room temperature, and all the tests were negative.
“Watch out for false positive winter results. It’s a specific problem,” he wrote on Twitter.
By “a specific problem,” the microbiologist is referring to a study commissioned earlier this year that “showed that subjective tests performed at temperatures between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius gave false positives.”
“The fact that this can also happen at 8 degrees Celsius is what surprises me”, admitted Goossens, who says the reasons for these false results are unclear.
“Maybe a chemical reaction takes place at certain temperatures and causes this result. It has nothing to do with the virus. But it is still very uncertain.”Said the scientist who recommends that everyone store and perform self-tests only at room temperature.
“Keep the self-test in the cabinet where you keep your other medicines. So it’s not too hot either, because we know that self-tests lose sensitivity at temperatures above 37°C”, It is to explain.
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