Belgian researchers warn against holiday reliance on COVID antigen tests

People line up at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing at a mobile testing van in New York City, U.S., August 27, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Belgian researchers on Tuesday issued a pre-holiday warning against over-reliance on COVID-19 rapid antigen tests, saying they believed the breath of people infected with the disease had high levels of virus in the first two days after an infection -- a period when many antigen tests were negative.

The organizations involved said they were communicating their findings in advance of a peer-reviewed publication in the interests of public health, as many families may be planning to use antigen tests as a way of screening for illness before family gatherings.