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. 2021 Apr;26(16):2100413.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.16.2100413.

Detection of the new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 in five SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RATs), Germany, March 2021

Sabrina Jungnick  1   2 , Bernhard Hobmaier  1   2 , Lena Mautner  3 , Mona Hoyos  3 , Maren Haase  3 , Armin Baiker  3 , Heidi Lahne  1 , Ute Eberle  1 , Clara Wimmer  1 , Sabrina Hepner  1 , Annika Sprenger  1 , Carola Berger  1 , Alexandra Dangel  1 , Manfred Wildner  4   5 , Bernhard Liebl  4   5 , Nikolaus Ackermann  1 , Andreas Sing  1   4 , Volker Fingerle  1 ; Bavarian SARS-CoV-2-Public Health Laboratory Team  1   6 ; Bavarian SARS-CoV-Public Health Laboratory Team
Collaborators, Affiliations

Detection of the new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 in five SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RATs), Germany, March 2021

Sabrina Jungnick et al. Euro Surveill. 2021 Apr.

Erratum in

  • Addendum for Euro Surveill. 2021;26(16).
    Eurosurveillance editorial team. Eurosurveillance editorial team. Euro Surveill. 2021 Oct;26(43):211028a. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.43.211028a. Euro Surveill. 2021. PMID: 34713800 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) should not escape molecular surveillance. We investigated if SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RATs) could detect B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 VOCs in certain laboratory conditions. Infectious cell culture supernatants containing B.1.1.7, B.1.351 or non-VOC SARS-CoV-2 were respectively diluted both in DMEM and saliva. Dilutions were analysed with Roche, Siemens, Abbott, nal von minden and RapiGEN RATs. While further studies with appropriate real-life clinical samples are warranted, all RATs detected B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, generally comparable to non-VOC strain.

Keywords: B.1.1.7; B.1.351; Rapid antigen test(s); SARS-CoV-2; Variant(s) of Concern; performance.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Reference bands for evaluation and grading of rapid antigen test results, March 2021
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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