The president of the Bohol Medical Society (BMS) says majority of the doctors in the medical technical group are strongly backing the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the screening test protocol for returning locally stranded Boholano individuals (LSI).
The stand of the doctors is based on the fact that the PCR test remains to be the gold standard when it comes to determining whether or not a person is infected of the virus.
Ong said that the result of the rapid test is not as definitive as a PCR. For this reason, the doctors are recommending the use of PCR over the rapid antibody test for screening of LSIs wishing to return to Bohol.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Dr. Jefferson Ong told The Bohol Tribune that the doctors remain steadfast in pushing for the use of PCR instead of the rapid test as part of the requirements to allow LSIs to return to Bohol.
Last Wednesday, Gov. Arthur Yap by way of the Provincial Emergency Management Administration (PEMA), released the guidelines or requirements that LSIs need to comply with in order to be allowed to return here.
One of the requirements is a negative test result. Originally, the PCR test was required but it was changed to rapid antibody test.
Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez, spokesperson of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on new and emerging diseases said, too, that the PCR test is still the best but, Lopez stressed, that the province will accept a rapid antibody test result.
In the interview, Ong said that in a guideline by the Department of Health (DoH), the latter was saying that if a person is asymptomatic, the rapid antibody test should be used instead of the PCR test. Ong said that he doesn’t know about the DoH’s basis on allowing the use of the rapid antibody test.
Ong also said that it was the Provincial Health Office (PHO) who made the decision to use the rapid test as the office is under the DoH.
Moreover, Ong believes that the PHO doctors are convinced that the PCR is the best testing system, but with the DoH directive, they have no choice but settle for the antibody test if the PCR is unavailable.
It was pointed out by Ong that the issue here is not only the difficulty to obtain the PCR kit for the asymptomatic persons, it is also costly to buy it on the part of the LSIs.
According to Lopez, the provincial government is shouldering the cost of the rapid test that will be given to the LSIs in Cebu as part of the requirement that will lead to their return to Bohol.
Moreover, Ong said that he doesn’t believe in a false positive PCR test result. If a PCR test turns out to be positive, it is positive. There is a probability that a result may be false negative but there is no such thing as false positive, Ong stressed.