Rapid antigen screening of asymptomatic people as a public health tool to combat COVID-19

Jurisdictions across Canada have been trying to combat a second wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic without using all the available tools. Accumulating evidence has shown that people who are infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) who are either...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Medical Association journal (CMAJ) 2021-03, Vol.193 (13), p.E449-E452
Main Authors: Schwartz, Kevin L., MD MSc, McGeer, Allison J., MD, Bogoch, Isaac I., MD MSc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Antigens
Asymptomatic
Canada
Carrier state (Communicable diseases)
Contact tracing
Control
Coronaviruses
Costs
COVID-19
COVID-19 Testing
Diagnosis
Diagnostic tests
Disease transmission
Epidemics
Humans
Immune system
Infections
Internal Medicine
Laboratories
Mass Screening
Pandemics
Public Health
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Testing
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Summary:Jurisdictions across Canada have been trying to combat a second wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic without using all the available tools. Accumulating evidence has shown that people who are infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) who are either presymptomatic (but subsequently develop symptoms) or paucisymptomatic (have mild symptoms that do not prompt a medical visit) are major contributors to transmission. However, current approaches of testing predominately symptomatic patients and relying on the results of expensive and slow laboratory-based testing for contact tracing have proven inadequate to control the spread of the disease, with associated economic and societal impacts. Frequent rapid antigen testing is a scalable public health tool that can effectively identify asymptomatic and paucisymptomatic people with SARS-CoV-2 infection and improve contact tracing and control of outbreaks.
ISSN:0820-3946
1488-2329
DOI:10.1503/cmaj.210100