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Comparative Study
. 2021 Jun:107:201-204.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2021.04.087. Epub 2021 May 1.

Performance of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test compared with real-time RT-PCR in asymptomatic individuals

Mónica Peña  1 , Manuel Ampuero  2 , Carlos Garcés  3 , Aldo Gaggero  2 , Patricia García  4 , María Soledad Velasquez  5 , Ricardo Luza  6 , Pía Alvarez  7 , Fabio Paredes  7 , Johanna Acevedo  8 , Mauricio J Farfán  9 , Sandra Solari  4 , Ricardo Soto-Rifo  1 , Fernando Valiente-Echeverría  10
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Performance of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test compared with real-time RT-PCR in asymptomatic individuals

Mónica Peña et al. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Jun.

Abstract

Screening, testing and contact tracing plays a pivotal role in control of the COVID-19 pandemic. To enable this it is necessary to increase the testing capacity. This study compared a SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test (RAT) and RT-PCR in 842 asymptomatic individuals from Tarapacá, Chile. A sensitivity of 69.86%, specificity of 99.61%, PPV of 94.44% and NPP of 97.22% with Ct values (Ct > 27) that were significantly higher among individuals with false-negative RAT were reported. These results support the fact that RAT might have a significant impact on the identification of asymptomatic carriers in areas that lack suitable laboratories to perform SARS-CoV-2 real-time RT-PCR diagnostics, or the results take more than 24-48 h, as well as zones with high traffic of individuals such as border/customs, airports, interregional bus, train stations or in any mass testing campaign requiring rapid results.

Keywords: Asymptomatic; RAT; RT-PCR; Rapid antigen test; SARS-CoV-2.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Difference in viral cycle threshold (Ct) value between asymptomatic individuals with positive (black) and negative (red) RAT among real-time RT-PCR-positive (n = 73). Analysis for statistical difference was performed by Wilcoxon test. (B) Plot of K-means clustering results of NSS real-time RT-PCR Ct values used to compare to RAT (black dots: RAT+/red dots: RAT−).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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