Cabot Lab

Are you in need of a COVID-19 test but aren’t sure which one to take?

There are two kinds you can receive: PCR or antigen.

PCR stands for “polymerase chain reaction” and is used to identify viral RNA. Once in a lab, the genetic material is amplified to detect even the smallest amount of coronavirus genes in the sample. The PCR process is repeated many times in a lab machine, so it can take over 24 hours to receive results. This allows for the most accuracy and leaves little to no room for a false result.

Rapid tests, or antigen tests, look for specific proteins on the coronavirus's surface. These only take 10-15 minutes to receive results and can even be done at home. However, because they do not amplify what they are looking for, antigen tests require a high amount of the virus to be present for accurate results.

Cabot Lab utilizes best-in-class rapid antigen testing kits with a higher efficacy of ~85% versus other testing solutions. Since the rapid tests have an accuracy rate of about ~85%, we strongly suggest taking both the PCR and rapid tests.

For more information on our testing, visit our website for details https://buff.ly/3OciwSY

Omicron, Delta, Alpha, Beta, OH MY!

One thing that’s been constant about SARS-CoV-2 is that it’s always changing. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been many prominent variants.

Each of those variants contains a different contagious meter. With data provided by Yale Medicine, we wanted to shed light on the different infection rates these versions have.

🦠Omicron🦠
This variant was more transmissible than the Delta—early reports from South Africa showed cases rising rapidly from 300 a day to 3,000 a day over two weeks. This likely helped it become the predominant variant in most places. More than 30 of Omicron’s mutations are on the virus’s spike protein (the part that attaches to human cells), and several of those are believed to increase the probability of infection.

🦠Delta🦠
Causing more than twice as many infections as previous variants, Delta was estimated to have been 80 to 90% more transmissible than the Alpha variant in Connecticut. After a steady decline in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the US, the arrival of the Delta variant coincided with a rapid reversal of that trend in June of 2021.

🦠Alpha🦠
Some of Alpha’s mutations spike proteins were thought to make it more infectious. The B.1.1.7 lineage was believed to be 30 to 50% more contagious than the original SARS-CoV-2 strain. Before Delta became predominant in mid-April 2021, Alpha comprised 66% of cases in the U.S., according to a study released by the CDC.

🦠Beta🦠
According to the CDC, Beta was about 50% more contagious than the original coronavirus strain.

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