NAFDAC Grants Conditional Emergency Use of Antibody Test Kits on COVID-19 Patients

NAFDAC Grants Conditional Emergency Use of Antibody Test Kits on COVID-19 Patients

By Martins Ifijeh

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has granted conditional emergency use of antibody and antigen test kit on COVID-19 patients in Nigeria.

In a statement made available to THISDAY Thursday, the Director General, NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye, said the antibody test kits should be used in COVID-19 confirmed individuals at designated centers in order to ascertain whether or not they can be infected again by the virus.

Antibodies are blood proteins produced in response to and countering specific antigens like viruses and bacteria.

She said: “The antigen tests kits on the other hand can detect the COVID-19 antigen in patients with or without symptoms, and the results will either show positive or negative.

“There has been a global effort by innovative diagnostic companies to develop test kits to aid in detection of COVID-19 in patients to guide the management of the disease.”

She said the agency has recently received many requests for emergency use authorisation for some of such diagnostic test kits to support the national response and ensure expanded testing capabilities.

According to her, the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated that the agency put measures in place to ensure access to health commodities that have the potential to impact positively on public health outcomes.

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