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
Review
. 2021 Jun 14;11(6):561.
doi: 10.3390/life11060561.

Screening, Diagnostic and Prognostic Tests for COVID-19: A Comprehensive Review

Mariana Ulinici  1 , Serghei Covantev  2 , James Wingfield-Digby  3   4 , Apostolos Beloukas  5   6 , Alexander G Mathioudakis  3   4 , Alexandru Corlateanu  2
Affiliations
Review

Screening, Diagnostic and Prognostic Tests for COVID-19: A Comprehensive Review

Mariana Ulinici et al. Life (Basel). .

Abstract

While molecular testing with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) remains the gold-standard test for COVID-19 diagnosis and screening, more rapid or affordable molecular and antigen testing options have been developed. More affordable, point-of-care antigen testing, despite being less sensitive compared to molecular assays, might be preferable for wider screening initiatives. Simple laboratory, imaging and clinical parameters could facilitate prognostication and triage. This comprehensive review summarises current evidence on the diagnostic, screening and prognostic tests for COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; CRISP; PCR; SARS-CoV2; coronavirus; diagnosis; immunoglobulin; prognosis; screening.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form and declare no conflicts related to the submitted work.

References

    1. NEJM Dying in a Leadership Vacuum. N. Engl. J. Med. 2020;383:1479–1480. doi: 10.1056/NEJMe2029812. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Miller I.F., Becker A.D., Grenfell B.T., Metcalf C.J.E. Disease and healthcare burden of COVID-19 in the United States. Nat. Med. 2020;26:1212–1217. doi: 10.1038/s41591-020-0952-y. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chu D.K., Kim L.H., Young P.J., Zamiri N., Almenawer S.A., Jaeschke R., Szczeklik W., Schünemann H.J., Neary J.D., Alhazzani W. Mortality and morbidity in acutely ill adults treated with liberal versus conservative oxygen therapy (IOTA): A systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2018;391:1693–1705. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30479-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barrot L., Asfar P., Mauny F., Winiszewski H., Montini F., Badie J., Quenot J.P., Pili-Floury S., Bouhemad B., Louis G., et al. Liberal or conservative oxygen therapy for acute respiratory distress syndrome. N. Engl. J. Med. 2020;382:999–1008. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1916431. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Vandenberg O., Martiny D., Rochas O., van Belkum A., Kozlakidis Z. Considerations for diagnostic COVID-19 tests. Nat. Rev. Microbiol. 2020 doi: 10.1038/s41579-020-00461-z. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources