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. 2021 Feb:103:636-641.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.11.164. Epub 2020 Nov 20.

Clinical performance evaluation of a SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antibody Test for determining past exposure to SARS-CoV-2

Peter Findeisen  1 , Hugo Stiegler  2 , Eloisa Lopez-Calle  3 , Tanja Schneider  4 , Eva Urlaub  3 , Johannes Hayer  3 , Claudia Zemmrich  5
Affiliations

Clinical performance evaluation of a SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antibody Test for determining past exposure to SARS-CoV-2

Peter Findeisen et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Objectives: Due to the number of asymptomatic infections and limited access to high-performance antibody tests, the true prevalence and seropositivity of SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unknown. To fill this gap, the clinical performance of a point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antibody Assay, a chromatographic immunoassay for detecting IgM/IgG antibodies, in near patient settings was assessed.

Methods: Forty-two anti-SARS-Cov-2 positive (CoV+) and 92 anti-SARS-Cov-2 negative (CoV-) leftover samples from before December 2019 were assessed; the Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 was used as the reference assay. Analytical specificity was tested using leftover samples collected before December 2019 from patients with common cold symptoms.

Results: The SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antibody Test was 100.0% (95% CI 91.59-100.0) sensitive and 96.74% (95% CI 90.77-99.32) specific, with 0.00% assay failure rate. No cross-reactivity was observed against the common cold panel. Method comparison was additionally conducted by two external laboratories, using 100 CoV+ and 275 CoV- samples, also comparing whole blood versus plasma matrix. The comparison demonstrated 96.00% positive and 96.36% negative percent agreement for plasma with the Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 and 99.20% percent overall agreement between whole blood and EDTA plasma.

Conclusion: The SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antibody Test demonstrated similar performance to the manufacturer's data and a centralised automated immunoassay, with no cross-reactivity with common cold panels.

Keywords: Past exposure; Rapid antibody test; SARS-CoV-2.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
External method and matrix comparison – workflow.
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