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HEALTH

Italy trials new ‘Daily Tampon’ rapid coronavirus test

Italian authorities are trialling a new super-fast saliva test for Covid-19 which can give results in just three minutes.

Published: 9 September 2020 16:32 CEST
Updated: 10 September 2020 15:17 CEST
Italy trials new 'Daily Tampon' rapid coronavirus test
A new coronavirus test created in Italy could considerably shorten the waiting time for results. Photo: AFP
The new test, called the “Daily Tampon”, is being trialled by the Italian health ministry and is expected to be approved for production soon, Italian media reported on Wednesday.
 
Tampone is the Italian word for a swab test – though the makers named the test in English.
 
The simple test requires a mouth swab and analyses and shows results similarly to a pregnancy test, according to media reports.
 
It differs from the current rapid tests being used at some Italian airports, which instead require a sample of nose and throat secretions and give results within around two hours.
 
 
 
Medical staff take swabs for the currently-used rapid tests for travellers in Italy. Photo: AFP
 
The Daily Tampon was created by a Lombardy-based company called Allum, in collaboration with the Sannio University in the southern Italian town of Benevento.
 
Allum, a lighting systems manufacturer, started by “designing lamps that could sanitize rooms from the virus,” company director Stefania Magni told local newspaper PrimaMerate.
 
“But we realised that it took too long and was burdensome. During the lockdown we wondered how we could help the country get back to normal as quickly as possible, so we started working on this test along with Pasquale Vito, professor of genetics at the University of Sannio, and the university spin-off Genus Biotech of which he is president.”
 

Italy is not the only country currently working on producing rapid testing kits.

French authorities on Wednesday launched a new kind of test that enables people to get their results quickly.

Health minister Olivier Veran said the new tests, called antigénique rapide in French, will deliver results in 15 to 20 minutes, although the downside is that they are less reliable than the PCR tests.

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BREXIT

‘We are desperate’: Why the UK must help Britons with Italian healthcare charges

A 74-year-old British woman has explained the "frustration and fear" Britons in Italy are facing when trying to access healthcare and appealed to the UK government for help.

Published: 11 April 2024 09:53 CEST
'We are desperate': Why the UK must help Britons with Italian healthcare charges

Pat Eggleton, a teacher and writer from the UK, appealed to the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron in the letter sent April 9th about the “desperate” situation faced by UK citizens entitled to free healthcare in Italy – but unable to access it.

British nationals residing in Italy before Brexit, and covered by the Withdrawal Agreement (WA), are in many cases being told by Italian health authorities that they must pay steep new fees at a minimum of €2,000 a year – even though they are exempt from paying at all.

READ ALSO: ‘Life or death situation’: Brits facing high Italian healthcare costs amid rule change uncertainty

In her open letter seen by The Local, Ms. Eggleton, who has lived in Italy since 2005, highlighted that the current minimum is a huge jump from the previous €387, and said that the sum was “difficult, or even impossible, for some to find when there had been no prior notification and there is no option to pay in instalments.”

“A great deal of undeserved worry, frustration and even fear has ensued,” she wrote.

“Some of our group have serious, ongoing health conditions. All we require is for one sentence from the Italian government confirming that Withdrawal Agreement beneficiaries do not have to pay for healthcare access to be circulated to all regional health authorities.

“We implore you to act before this becomes even more serious. As someone put it, “This is a matter not only of money, but of health.” 

Ms Eggleton’s letter came exactly one month after the British government confirmed that all WA agreement beneficiaries are exempt from paying the €2,000 fee, provided they were living in Italy before January 1st 2021.

But there were no details available at the time from the Italian government setting out how the rules would be implemented or communicated to local health authorities around Italy.

Since then, there has been no further information released by the Italian government on any official platform. 

One Withdrawal Agreement beneficiary, Graham Beresford, told The Local last week how he was having trouble accessing healthcare, even though he has a right to it.

Mr. Beresford suffers from blood cancer and needs access to the Italian healthcare system to obtain his medication. 

“Every time I go to my ASL (local health unit) office, I always feel like I’m dismissed,” Graham said. “I told the ASL worker I need medication for my cancer and she replied lots of people come in here with sob stories.

“There genuinely seems to be no compassion whatsoever.”

The Local has written to the Italian health ministry for comment.

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