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Rapid antigen testing in COVID-19 responses

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  • Rapid antigen testing in COVID-19 responses

    Science 07 May 2021:
    Vol. 372, Issue 6542, pp. 571-572
    DOI: 10.1126/science.abi6680

    Marta Garc?a-Fi?ana, Iain E. Buchan

    The value of rapid antigen testing of people (with or without COVID-19 symptoms) to reduce transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been discussed extensively (1?5) but remains a topic of policy debates (6, 7). Lateral flow devices (LFDs) to test for SARS-CoV-2 antigen are inexpensive, provide results in minutes, and are highly specific (2?4), and although less sensitive than reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests to detect viral RNA, they detect most cases with high viral load (2, 3, 8), which are likely the most infectious (8, 9). Successful mass testing relies on public trust, the social and organizational factors that support uptake, contact tracing, and adherence to quarantine. On page 635 of this issue, Pavelka et al. (10) report the substantial reduction in transmission that population-wide rapid antigen testing had, in combination with other measures, in Slovakia. ...

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