Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov 10;9(1):e2.
doi: 10.22037/aaem.v9i1.993. eCollection 2021.

Antibody Rapid Test Results in Emergency Medical Services Personnel during COVID-19 Pandemic; a Cross Sectional study

Peyman Saberian  1   2 , Seyed Mohammad Mireskandari  3 , Alireza Baratloo  1   4 , Parisa Hasani-Sharamin  5 , Sepideh Babaniamansour  6 , Ehsan Aliniagerdroudbari  7 , Mahnaz Jamshididana  5
Affiliations

Antibody Rapid Test Results in Emergency Medical Services Personnel during COVID-19 Pandemic; a Cross Sectional study

Peyman Saberian et al. Arch Acad Emerg Med. .

Abstract

Introduction: Like other infectious diseases, it is expected that COVID-19 will mostly end with the development of neutralizing antibody immunity. This study aimed to evaluate the value of COVID-19 antibody rapid test assessment in emergency medical services (EMS) personnel.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Tehran, Iran from 20th March until 20th May 2020. The results of chest computed tomography (CT) scan, and antibody rapid test were compared in EMS personnel with confirmed COVID-19, as well as symptomatic and asymptomatic ones who had exposure to a probable/confirmed COVID-19 teammate. In symptomatic or asymptomatic individuals who were only IgM-positive, chest CT scan or RT-PCR was recommended.

Results: A total of 243 EMS personnel with the mean age of 36.14±8.70 (range 21 to 59) years took part in this study (87.7% were males). Most of the participants (73.3%) had history of exposure. One hundred sixty-three EMS personnel were tested using either RT-PCR test or chest CT-scan or both, and 78 (47.9%) of them had at least one positive result. Among the participants who had undergone chest CT-scan and/or RT-PCR test (n=163), 78 had positive chest CT-scan and/or RT-PCR test; of these, 18 individuals had negative results for IgM and IgG. The rate of positive IgM and IgG in participants with positive chest CT-scan was 1.6 or 1.3 times more than those with negative chest CT-scan, respectively (p < 0.05). The percentage of positive results for both IgM and IgG in participants having positive RT-PCR test was 1.7 times more than those having negative RT-PCR test (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: Rapid antibody test could help in diagnosis of COVID-19 in asymptomatic or symptomatic EMS personnel who did not undergo RT-PCR test or the test was reported as negative. However, its sensitivity could be enhanced through use along with other diagnostic methods.

Keywords: Antibodies; COVID-19; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Diagnostic; Emergency Medical Services; Reagent Kits.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Veen diagram of positive symptoms related to COVID-19 and/or positive result of antibody rapid test in all participants (n=243); (B) Veen diagram of positive symptoms related to COVID-19 and/or positive result of antibody rapid test and/or positive RT-PCR and/or chest CT-scan in patients in participants who underwent chest CT-scan and/or RT-PCR test (n=163)
Figure 2
Figure 2
The results of rapid antibody test based on history of exposure with suspected and/or confirmed case
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Kalkeri R, Goebel S, Sharma GD. SARS-CoV-2 Shedding from Asymptomatic Patients: Contribution of Potential Extrapulmonary Tissue Reservoirs. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene. 2020;103(1):18–21. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vahidi E, Jalili M. Why COVID-19? Advanced Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2020;4(2s)
    1. Chen W, Zheng KI, Liu S, Yan Z, Xu C, Qiao Z. Plasma CRP level is positively associated with the severity of COVID-19. Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials. 2020;19(1):18. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Herold T, Jurinovic V, Arnreich C, Lipworth BJ, Hellmuth JC, Bergwelt-Baildon MV, et al. Elevated levels of IL-6 and CRP predict the need for mechanical ventilation in COVID-19. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology. 2020;146(1):128–36. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hong KH, Lee SW, Kim TS, Huh HJ, Lee J, Kim SY, et al. Guidelines for Laboratory Diagnosis of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea. Annals of laboratory medicine. 2020;40(5):351–60. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources