tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Front Public Health
. 2022 Jan 14;9:728969.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.728969. eCollection 2021.
Evaluation of Rapid Antigen Tests Using Nasal Samples to Diagnose SARS-CoV-2 in Symptomatic Patients
Manaf Alqahtani[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Abdulkarim Abdulrahman[SUP] 1 4 [/SUP], Fathi Mustafa[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Abdulla I Alawadhi[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP], Batool Alalawi[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Saad I Mallah[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Introduction: The best way to mitigate an outbreak besides mass vaccination is via early detection and isolation of infected cases. As such, a rapid, cost-effective test for the early detection of COVID-19 is required.
Methods: The study included 4,183 mildly symptomatic patients. A nasal and nasopharyngeal sample obtained from each patient was analyzed to determine the diagnostic ability of the rapid antigen detection test (RADT, nasal swab) in comparison with the current gold-standard (RT-PCR, nasopharyngeal swab).
Results: The calculated sensitivity and specificity of the RADT was 82.1 and 99.1%, respectively. Kappa's coefficient of agreement between the RADT and RT-PCR was 0.859 (p < 0.001). Stratified analysis showed that the sensitivity of the RADT improved significantly when lowering the cut-off RT-PCR Ct value to 24.
Conclusion: Our study's results support the potential use of nasal swab RADT as a screening tool in mildly symptomatic patients, especially in patients with higher viral loads.
Keywords: COVID-19; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV); nasal swab; nasopharyngeal swabs; rapid antigen detection test; viral diagnostic.
. 2022 Jan 14;9:728969.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.728969. eCollection 2021.
Evaluation of Rapid Antigen Tests Using Nasal Samples to Diagnose SARS-CoV-2 in Symptomatic Patients
Manaf Alqahtani[SUP] 1 2 3 [/SUP], Abdulkarim Abdulrahman[SUP] 1 4 [/SUP], Fathi Mustafa[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Abdulla I Alawadhi[SUP] 1 3 [/SUP], Batool Alalawi[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Saad I Mallah[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35096725
- PMCID: PMC8795669
- DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.728969
Abstract
Introduction: The best way to mitigate an outbreak besides mass vaccination is via early detection and isolation of infected cases. As such, a rapid, cost-effective test for the early detection of COVID-19 is required.
Methods: The study included 4,183 mildly symptomatic patients. A nasal and nasopharyngeal sample obtained from each patient was analyzed to determine the diagnostic ability of the rapid antigen detection test (RADT, nasal swab) in comparison with the current gold-standard (RT-PCR, nasopharyngeal swab).
Results: The calculated sensitivity and specificity of the RADT was 82.1 and 99.1%, respectively. Kappa's coefficient of agreement between the RADT and RT-PCR was 0.859 (p < 0.001). Stratified analysis showed that the sensitivity of the RADT improved significantly when lowering the cut-off RT-PCR Ct value to 24.
Conclusion: Our study's results support the potential use of nasal swab RADT as a screening tool in mildly symptomatic patients, especially in patients with higher viral loads.
Keywords: COVID-19; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV); nasal swab; nasopharyngeal swabs; rapid antigen detection test; viral diagnostic.