I reported ut to my rhuematology department but they hadn't heard of it before. Yes, it says ignore after 30mins, but the point being is I never had a line appear on old tests before and I do feel a bit rough. I managed to get a letter from my Dr to say lateral flow tests should not be used in my first line of testing, but it doesn't really solve the ongoing issue around travel for me (e.g. I too have the worry that false positives will cause me difficulties in the future. He , like you followed up with a PCR and that was negative so yea it is possible to get false positive results from lateral flow tests. Think I read about cross reactivity with other coronaviruses potentially giving false positives on LFT. This line should be present every time you do a lateral flow test. I have another Flowflex test waiting at home for my Day 2 be interesting to see what happens with that. Dr Hudson-Peacock has since been praised as one of the few clear voices in all of this confusion for his multiple Instagram posts about lateral flow tests and coronavirus regulations. He said an extra 425 million tests are due to be made available this month with further shipments expected after that. I've had two LFTs per week since early March and not a single false positive. Use code HELLO54 when you join us as a print or digital member and your membership will be half price for the first year. I have had the exact same thing twice now. "You might be able to have a system where a vulnerable person can get tested and get the drugs immediately. It's significantly more likely that lateral flow tests will give out a false negative result, however. I'm in exactly the same position Melissa. As PPs have said you do sometimes get a shadow if the test is left to develop for longer than the recommended incubation time. But data now suggests much of that concern was misplaced. You must be logged in to reply to this topic. The medic wrote: "If the faintly positive line appears after the time window, the most likely cause is either that there has been some contamination (e.g. I am anti-ccp, RF factor positive RA - if you don't mind me asking, what type do you have? An evaporation line is a slight streak that appears where the positive line on a pregnancy test should be. From government rumours, by April we will have stopped testing and isolation anyway.. Im going to be blunt. done subsequent lateral flow tests (all positive) and 3 PCR tests (all negative). Alexander Edwards, associate professor in biomedical technology at the University of Reading, says it "quickly became clear" that if the tests were used as instructed, "you don't tend to get large numbers of false positives". Drinking fresh orange juice seems to give a positive. Lateral flow tests are a quick and simple way to discover if you have Covid-19. Evaporation lines are colorless streaks, not faint lines. Education secretary Nadim Zahawi told the BBC there are currently no plans to ask people to pay for lateral flow tests, amid speculation that the free service could be scrapped if Omicron infections decline. mmm theres also PCR false negatives so I wouldnt be so quick to assume the LF is wrong. My subsequent PCR test was negative. Many of us will now be very familiar with Covid lateral flow tests, but a doctor has warned that there are a number of mistakes people regularly make when taking them. What causes a stroke and what are the main symptoms to look out for? Now his real dilemma comes when he gets negative on PCR and runs another LF just to be sure and it is weak positive within the time limit! Not sure this is helpful but here is a little bit of data if you are informally gathering some. My SO is on his 5th day of testing. It affects around 1% of the population, of which a significant group will have been shielding. But Operation Moonshot - as it was called by the government - got off to a bumpy start. To begin with they were rolled out in healthcare settings, workplaces and sporting events. The official instructions that accompany the LFTs states that 'two lines, one next to the C and one next to the T, even faint lines, shows the test is positive'. While you should always get a PCR test if you have symptoms of the virus, the lateral flow can tell you in just 30 minutes if you are positive or negative which is useful when it comes to picking up asymptomatic cases. The latest nasal only LFT test kits have been shown to be less sensitive than the older nasal and throat tests. If the result is positive, the T line will appear, indicating that the test has detected coronavirus antigens. The test is the latest one that you read between 15-30mins. However, if a line appears *after* the interpretation window then this does NOT count as a positive test. By the next day it was so red the ink was bleeding out! I hope you have a wonderful trip to see your family. It could be that Im crap at taking any Covid test, but if thats the case why did the PCR test work when others didnt? They have been brilliant and have flagged to the British Society for Rheumatology, but they have said they don't have enough evidence to find patterns. "The PCR programme is such a complete waste of resources. Usually, people who have more virus in their body have a lower Ct value. After this time place in the domestic waste bag (normally a "black bag") Gradually those same rapid lateral flow tests have become part of everyday life. The other possibility I thought of is CSF, as I have high intercranial pressure from excess cerebral spinal fluid, so could have a CSF leak in my nose. I also did a xiamen one which was positive. Or just go an get a PCR. Hope you work out what is causing yours. Last month the Omicron variant overtook Delta and became the most dominant strain in both London and England, causing many of us to scramble for Covid tests ahead of the festive season. On social media over Christmas it wasn't hard to find posts from people who said they were clear on multiple rapid tests taken at home - even with Covid symptoms - only to test positive on a more sensitive PCR test processed in a laboratory. If you are positive you can expect to see two lines on the test, while a negative result will see just one line appearing within half an hour. You no longer have to get a follow-up PCR test if you test positive on a lateral flow with no symptoms. While lateral flow tests are quick and easy to do, multiple tests can produce conflicting results indicating everything from a negative to a . Says in the bumph, any line no matter how faint should be treated as a positive test and go get PCR. It's the closest I have got to some kind of acknowledgement so far! Of course, we can't say for 100% certain the vital load through either the antigen test or the Ct value from the PCR test, but we can look at the correlations. I suspect fibromyalgia is because they haven't found the real cause. Again, after a squinter of a lateral flow test line one day, there was a strong positive hours later. She had a full list of customers coming in for treatments after New Year and had to quickly rebook all of them. I would have thought it wouldn't be so consistent a pattern though, unless it is reacting to any bit of food/drink I have had at any point in the day? One step closer to me and my family being reunited. browser that You know deep down the testing company have screwed up you are most likely infectious but not only did you decide to leave the house you got on a ferry to another country. From today, those who. I did the tests without food or drink influence. A lateral flow test is a specific type where you dip a piece of paper in a liquid and after a few minutes one line appears a positive control to show the test is working and another line appears if the test is positive. Wife and son both had it recently, wife double vacced, son 11 yo. The only day the line was dark was 12/26. LATERAL flow tests are a quick and easy way to find out if you have Covid. As you can see, negative for throat and positive for nose. Id say assume positive, test again 8 hours or so later and see how that comes back. If you are not inclined to do that I would keep doing daily lateral flow as a minimum. I have no symptoms, and two subsequent tests have been negative. We will use the information you have shared for carefully considered and specific purposes, where we I've been trying to find any information on super faint lines that result on lateral flow tests. But false positives are not the only possible drawback with mass testing on this scale. When my wife was isolating due to contact with positive cases, her daily LFT tests showed negative, even on the day she felt ill. Three days later an LFT showed positive, confirmed that day with a positive PCR. He urged people to ensure they are doing the correct swab for the test they are taking. It is a shame that the government is not publicizing the true accuracy of the flow flow test , causing this kind of agony for the public and is only interested in making money out of the public misery . If it was a drugs test in prison it would a positive. My 10 year old was sent home from school as they had lots of cases, LF in the evening had a very feint line. PCR test a day later was negative. Anyone else experienced this? "The best advice is if you have symptoms is to simply stay at home until you are better, and that way you will avoid spreading Covid, flu and a host of other viral infections. Rich Quelch, of pharmaceutical experts Origin, explained: 'After completing a lateral flow test, your result will appear within 30 minutes. SUPER faint positive line on lateral flow test. Lateral flow antigen testing detects the presence of the COVID-19 viral antigen from a swab sample. I'm still negative on LFTs, and symptomless, so far. If you don't mind me asking, what type of RA do you have? That's interesting. Honestly, I think Test and Trace are about as useful as a chocolate teapot! Treat as +ve get a PCR done. The test line has appeared faintly in the during of the 30 min test window. The lft are comparatively inaccurate and significantly less sensitive to actual infection than a PCR (especially in the early stages). The booster campaign is at the forefront of the Governments plan to tackle Omicron, which is threatening to plunge the UK into another lockdown. A line next to the 'C'. If it is a false result its most likely because you read it too late not because of cross reaction with another virus. A doctor has outlined what a faint line on a lateral flow test really means as the UK reported 129,471 new lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases on Tuesday. Later that evening her symptoms began - a mild headache and a runny nose. In December, London-based A&E doctor Nathan Hudson-Peacock. Well, Ive just done another one. she did two more one in the evening and another on Saturday morning 21/8/2021 showing positive result . Pcr done Boxing Day and positive. Mumsnet carries some affiliate marketing links, so if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale (more details here). This is very encouraging. Follow Metro across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. LFTs are easy to use and give results in 30 minutes. They work by detecting the virus's genetic material, and are very accurate. They correctly gave a positive test to 58% of people without symptoms as well. To be completely honest, it wasn't the most helpful phone call but the Dr agreed looking at RA antibodies was a sensible approach. As we were due to go to a very important wedding of my wife's niece . All you need to know about everything that matters. I'd be interested to understand (and of course if you don't mind sharing) if we have the same type of arthritis (I am RF positive, anti-ccp positive RA). People who have had covid tend to test positive on the lateral flow tests, at college they were asked not to take the LFTs. I assume you have used these too? To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account. Dr Hudson-Peacock also suggested that this line may have been caused by very weak contaminants, such as food or drinks, rather thanCovid-19 infection. Hi Melissa. 15/03/2021 08:24, Mine usually goes negative within 3 min and stays negative even hours later. Thanks so much for your message - yes I really am just trying to find someone out there who has had a similar experience to mine. Please come forward to receive your booster as soon as possible.. Each positive case identified can help prevent many more infections. Hopefully in time things will become clearer! Four subsequent LFTs were negative but I got a PCR anyway, which is positive. ! A negative will be no line whatsoever, in any light conditions. I am so sorry to hear you and your wife have been through this, and all for nothing. GP advised that I probably had COVID (I wasnt convinced). The company I used didnt ask you to report a result, just to upload a photo which they would assess and issue a certificate accordingly. I hope it fades soo as its getting me down. It's so naughty and a real step up from when I was little and we used to do the old thermometer on a hot water bottle trick (which my Mum never fell for!). Since March, 183,939 pupils in England have tested positive on a lateral flow test at home and then had a sample sent off to a laboratory for a follow-up PCR test. A doctor has shared his concerns about the faint lines on lateral flow tests and what they could indicate. First, have you had covid in the past? The plan was to use millions of cheap, throwaway lateral flow tests that could give a result in 15 minutes, rather than the more sensitive PCR tests which had to be sent off and processed in a laboratory. "I take two tests a week because I see so many people as part of my job," she says. He explained that if this positive line appears after the 30-minute window, then it does not count as a positive test. Read about our approach to external linking. I hope you find the cause of yours . Thanks to Rheumatoid Arthiritis Medication decision help. Sounds like you were positive you shouldnt have got on a plane! There were concerns raised by South African scientists that the lateral flow tests would not be able to pick up the Omicron variant, growing rapidly in the UK. However, if the "positive" line is very faint and appears after a certain amount of time, it could actually mean you are not infected, a doctor has said. Hi there, thank you so much for coming back to me. I haven't been eating or drinking that close to doing them, although some of them weren't first thing in the morning. Youve got symptoms and youve done a PCR. As above, Ive done 100s of the damn things. Search the forum using the power of Google. I was unwell for weeks afterwards and so was my husband. I have had the exact same but I am the opposite and only get false positives with the Flowflex brand just in the nose, the other non-branded (nose and throat) ones are negative for me. Fortunately, I am in remission and now only take Hydroxychloroquine but have spent a number of years previously on Methotrexate. Yeah I know, the result is supposed to be invalid after 30mins, but I never had a line appear after a test even on old tests several days old. I am taking sulfasalazine. Hi there. food or drink, or some other weak contaminant), or there are just very. It should be phased out sooner rather than later," says Prof Irene Petersen at UCL. Of course, I have then routinely booked a PCR for either the same, or next day and isolated before the test and until the result. Others think that as the Omicron wave passes, it is time to wind down the mass testing programme completely. I would do another lateral flow. 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By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. An analysis of the lateral flow kit used in Liverpool showed it only detected around half of people without symptoms who - on the same day - returned a positive PCR result. Lateral flow tests are pivotal to the UK government's strategy to reduce the spread of the coronavirus by identifying asymptomatic patients. Polymerase chain. Prof Petersen says that rapid lateral flow tests are far better at spotting the cases most likely to pass Covid on to someone else. Anyway, thank you for your post as it has given me some clarity. x. Hi Melissa - it is a frustration - as I know someone who had to fly out urgently on a business trip - the morning of the flight got this false positive and he was fully vaccinated - did contract covid post vacinne - had to spend over 500 as had to do another test at another company that came back fine - able to board the flight! Haha surely I deserve a diplomatic passport for that! Whatever happens to the pandemic itself though, scientists think mass testing may have opened the door to other more efficient ways of detecting disease in the near future. My RA has flared up and remained bad since the vaccinations. Also my RA nurse said she'd mention it to my consultant. At conservative gathering, Trump is still the favourite. Some reports have said that a faint line on the back end of the infection COULD mean they don't even have it anymore (or maybe that they weren't contagious? Read about our approach to external linking. Some scientists think we could all soon store a supply of rapid tests or "viral thermometers" in the medicine cabinet to help diagnose sickness far more quickly. Don't know but will phone RA nurse to find out. Mine started at a very faint line. OK I'm a scientist (a biochemist) and have spent several years of my life developing these kind of tests so an expert. I actually have since found out that it's meant to be reported to the Yellow Card scheme, which is where many people report side effects to the vaccine. Our kits say ignore anything after XX mins (cant recall what XX is). The line on the test strip is very faint. Unfortunately we did not get the result until Saturday evening at 10pm with both of us showed negative PCR test . I would also ask, if you don't mind, to write to NRAS. I have anti-ccp and RF positive RA. Of course there is the possibility that your DS is positive but has such low levels of virus that it is below the limit of detection of the assay . We had similar happen here then got a proper positive from another LFT the next day so thats my guess, If it was a drug test in the Peleton it would mean lots of scrutiny on the B sample. I had a faint line too, then subsequent positive pcr, a friend has had exactly the same. Im back to taking pain medication most days now and wearing wrist/ knee supports. I really hope you get to the bottom of what the issue is, as it's very complicated not being able to do a lateral flow test with confidence of accuracy! A doctor has warned that people are making three common mistakes when taking Covid lateral flow tests. But the results of these tests are not so black and white. What does a faint line on my lateral flow test mean? Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them. I took two lateral flow tests 12 hours apart from different batches and both were positive. Three days later lft was strongly positive in seconds. A recent analysis of the first Liverpool pilot, which has not yet been peer reviewed by other scientists, found that the early roll out of mass testing in the city was linked to a 32% fall in Covid hospital admissions, and relieved significant pressure on the NHS. If the faint line appears after the window, the most likely cause is either that there has been some contamination (e.g. Kevin Lyttle Hi there, thank you for sharing your nephew's experience. I do lateral flows twice a week for past three months for my work. Instead, he advised to take extra care with social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing and to continue using lateral flow tests as per NHS guidance. So its a positive. For other inquiries Contact Us. Not the norm RA symptoms, is anyone else experiencing the same? 45 mins later and the second LFT is completely clear, maybe Ive already scraped all the covid particles out of my nose on the previous tests, Hopefully will get the PCR result tomorrow. Originally conceived before the 2023 UCI World Championships were POC Omne Lite and Ultra helmets, Pole Voima ID, Bell Full-10 helmet, Cane Creek ILG2 shocks, and Focus Jam/Sam 2s. However, the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) said that its own analysis had not found this to be true. I saw in the news what was happening and was wondering the same. If neither of those apply, then I'm out of ideas. A string ofhugely positive studiesshow Omicron is milder than other strains for the vaccinated, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta. Where that line is faint, the test is still considered to have given a positive . video. I've been trying to find any information on super faint lines that result on lateral flow tests. Therefore, day-to-day I am rarely in settings that I would say put me at particularly high risk of catching it. You do not need to isolate and you do not need to book a PCR.. I've seen that the more faint the line, the more the virus is "on it's way out" but a line is a line, right? But I dont go to work, I dont go anywhere where there are lots of people, where there are people I still socially distance, I still have the Covid app active on my phone, no-one Ive seen recently had tested positive, I test 3 times a week, I wear a mask. I took LFT tests over consecutive days, including the day I did a PCR test, all LFTs were negative, PCR positive. I too have had this happen to me. I am anti-ccp postive and RF positive - I'm just trying to find if there is any kind of pattern developing there. Rezzy Ghadjar If in doubt PCR and isolate until results are back. Email us at exclusive@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4104. 11pm - 1am, Turn Me On It is important that we all take steps to reduce the spread of Covid-19 . The cold was what was worrying me as I really didn't want to pass Covid19 on if the PCR was wrong. The same Cochrane review found that in people with confirmed Covid-19, lateral flow tests correctly gave a positive test to an average of 72% of people with symptoms. Dr Hudson-Peacock noted that if the faintly positive line appears after the time window, the most likely cause is either that there has been some contamination (e.g. Four subsequent LFTs were negative but I got a PCR anyway, which is positive. You no longer have to get a follow-up PCR test if you test positive on a lateral flow with no symptoms. A bit clearer now after a few hours but still very faint. I self isolated Got my test results this morning and Ive tested positive, obviously very concerned as I am of although I read nras posts regularly. I have a really mild cold at the moment, so now wondering if the FlowFLex is picking up a common coronavirus. I too was initially told I probably had Covid, but I had received two doses of the vaccine by this point so I thought it was unlikely. latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more, Harry and Meghan dont need Frogmore Cottage but it cant be given to Prince Andrew, Single mum worried sick after being fined for parking outside McDonalds, Investigation launched after man, 37, found dead inside car by cemetery, Man had sex with wife over bollard erected by neighbour during parking row, Inside Frogmore Cottage as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle vacate royal home, First Partygate fines to be issued today for Number Ten Covid bashes, Do not sell or share my personal information, Loss of sense of smell or taste or theyve changed. "We have drugs which can reduce the severity of influenza, for example, but they need to be taken very soon after infection," says Prof Alex Edwards. Do you have a story for The Sun news desk? Yes I am and strongly anti-CCP positive. But if you have symptoms, regardless of the lateral flow test result, you should isolate and book a PCR test. You do not need to isolate and you do not need to book a PCR. They said they are aware of it but it's so rare they don't yet know why it's happening. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. I was speaking to someone on a RA Facebook.page that had the same issue.