Thurles Information

Newstalk presenter, Mr Pat Kenny took a proper verbal ‘walloping’ this morning, when he decided to engage in a heated radio debate with one of Ireland’s leading and knowledgeable doctors, over the slow use of Antigen Tests here in Ireland.

Associate Professor of General Practice at UCD, Dr Ray Walley, when being interviewed highlighted the dangers of people using antigen tests instead of PCR tests, but Mr Kenny, displaying his misconceived medical knowledge, set about bemoaning the lack of Antigen Test usage in Ireland.

Here on local radio Tipp FM, (Latter the pulpit for exaggerating, bone idle, Tipperary politicians) was interviewing ‘know-it-all AK47’, (latter lesser known as Deputy Alan Kelly, leader of a tiny annihilated Labour Party), who like Mr Pat Kenny was also busy holding up to ridicule the (and let’s be honest) trojan work being currently undertaken and being accomplished to date, by our present coalition government, with regards to managing a country beset by a killer pandemic.

Back on Newstalk, Professor Walley pointed out that antigen tests do have a role to play in certain controlled environments, but also argued that a problem exists when the general public use them, instead of visiting a PCR test centre or their GP, when they are displaying possible symptoms.

In response, a badly researched Mr Pat Kenny stated that he was amused by the idea of blaming antigen tests and then asked why if they have been used so extensively and successfully in other countries; such as Denmark and Germany, that they cannot work here in Ireland?
Mr Kenny stated that he has been talking on his programme for a year about how to use antigen tests and in what circumstances they are appropriate and they have been rubbished by Professor Nolan, and by Dr Tony Holohan, the latter turning his face against them utterly. Many in the GP area were not enthusiastic about them either and they have their place. But there has been a lack of information coming from the medical establishment as to exactly what that place is. The public are depending on people like him to give them information and that was not acceptable, Mr Kenny argued.

Dr Walley said the World Health Organisations (WHO) advice has always been to “emphasis, isolate, test and contact” and this advice is based on the PCR system which he called a substantially more accurate test.
He stated that the difficulty is that these are complex messages and the public have not been able to take that in.
When you have gotten a sick, stressed patient they will grab at anything to help themselves and that is 100% understandable. Where the antigen tests have a specific utility is where the State is about to introduce them; in high prevalence areas such as in school settings. Dr Walley added that even if a person returns a negative PCR test in symptomatic cases, they must still isolate for two days, whether they are vaccinated or not.

The Dublin-based GP, who is also Vice President of the Standing Committee of European Doctors, explained that, many of those countries which have excellent healthcare systems and that used antigen tests, are now going into lock-down. He stated, “We have Holland which closed a major hospital three weeks ago, because basically they ran out of ICU facilities and they have used antigen tests. You have France which has used antigen tests whereby they’re extending the use of digital certs for shops and other things,” he went on to explain.

He argued Ireland must now focus on introducing what he called ‘more mitigation measures’ such as reviewing why masks aren’t worn by children aged six years and older.

A badly bruised Mr Kenny continued to argue that public health officials were too slow in advising the Irish public to wear masks early on and called into question the errancy of some of the country’s leading doctors.

Professor Walley stated that the nature of medicine and science means things change over time, as a greater understanding of a particular issue continues to developed.

Continue to listen to science.