Diagnostic Performance of Ag-RDTs and NAAT for SARS-CoV2 Identification in Symptomatic Patients in Catalonia

The use of rapid antigenic tests (Ag-RDTs) to diagnose a SARS-CoV-2 infection has become a common practice recently. This study aimed to evaluate performance of Abbott PanbioTM Ag-RDTs with regard to nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) in the early stages of the disease. A cohort of 149,026 in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Viruses 2021-05, Vol.13 (5), p.908
Main Authors: Basile, Luca, Guadalupe-Fernández, Víctor, Valdivia Guijarro, Manuel, Martinez Mateo, Ana, Ciruela Navas, Pilar, Mendioroz Peña, Jacobo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age groups
antigen test
Asymptomatic
Communication
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Disease transmission
Health surveillance
Hospitalization
Infections
Laboratories
Nursing homes
Patients
positivity rate
pre-symptomatic
SARS-CoV-2 infection
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
surveillance
symptomatic
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Summary:The use of rapid antigenic tests (Ag-RDTs) to diagnose a SARS-CoV-2 infection has become a common practice recently. This study aimed to evaluate performance of Abbott PanbioTM Ag-RDTs with regard to nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) in the early stages of the disease. A cohort of 149,026 infected symptomatic patients, reported in Catalonia from November 2020 to January 2021, was selected. The positivity rates of the two tests were compared with respect to the dates of symptom onset. Ag-RDTs presented positivity rates of 84% in the transmission phases of the disease and 31% in the pre-symptomatic period, compared to 93% and 91%, respectively, for NAAT. The detection of many false negatives with Ag-RDTs during the pre-symptomatic period demonstrates the risk of virus dissemination with this diagnostic technique if used outside the symptomatic period.
ISSN:1999-4915
1999-4915
DOI:10.3390/v13050908