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The High Authority for Health is in favor of the reimbursement by Medicare of technical nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT), which includes PCR tests, to detect infection with the monkey pox virus. It also recalls the context of their use.
While the monkeypox epidemic continues to grow, the High Authority for Health (HAS) took a position on July 25 in favor of the reimbursement of monkeypox detection tests by Medicare.
A test for “suspect cases”
The HAS was seized by the Ministry of Health, to position itself in particular on the question of monkeypox tests. “Based on the latest available epidemiological data, international recommendations and after hearing the stakeholders“, the HAS recalls that the diagnosis is based first on the examination and questioning of the patient.
Thus, for the health instance “detection by NAAT test should therefore only be carried out in the event of persistent doubt after clinical examination” for “confirm or not” the infection.
No test if no symptoms
“The use of this type of test is thus limited to ‘suspected cases’ and ‘possible cases’, as defined by Public Health France and is not necessary in the absence of symptoms.“, writes the HAS again.
The tests “must be specific to the virus” and have performance “vsupported by the National Reference Center for Orthopoxviruses“.
Deliver results as quickly as possible
Finally, the HAS recalls the order of priority for carrying out the tests, “according to the clinical context and the type of lesions”. These are first of all tests to be carried out on “mucosal samples, skin samples or samples from the oropharyngeal sphere” again indicates the HAS in its press release, which recalls “that one or two samples are usually sufficient“.