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. 2021 Aug;26(34):2100797.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.34.2100797.

Sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools, Austria, March 2021

Peter Willeit  1   2 , Benoît Bernar  3 , Christoph Zurl  4   5   6 , Mariam Al-Rawi  7   8 , Andrea Berghold  9 , David Bernhard  10   11 , Wegene Borena  12 , Christian Doppler  10   11 , Reinhold Kerbl  13 , Alwin Köhler  7   8 , Robert Krause  4   5 , Bernd Lamprecht  14 , Johannes Pröll  10 , Hannes Schmidt  15   7 , Ivo Steinmetz  16 , Evelyn Stelzl  16 , Heribert Stoiber  12 , Dorothee von Laer  12 , Johannes Zuber  17   7 , Thomas Müller  3 , Volker Strenger  18 , Michael Wagner  15   19   7
Affiliations

Sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools, Austria, March 2021

Peter Willeit et al. Euro Surveill. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

This study evaluates the performance of the antigen-based anterior nasal screening programme implemented in all Austrian schools to detect SARS-CoV-2 infections. We combined nationwide antigen-based screening data obtained in March 2021 from 5,370 schools (Grade 1-8) with an RT-qPCR-based prospective cohort study comprising a representative sample of 244 schools. Considering a range of assumptions, only a subset of infected individuals are detected with the programme (low to moderate sensitivity) and non-infected individuals mainly tested negative (very high specificity).

Keywords: Antigen-based test; Children; PCR-based test; SARS-CoV-2; School; Sensitivity; Specificity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: BioTechMed-Graz is a research alliance of three Austrian university to promote inter-university research activities. All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in relation to the article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study design for evaluating the performance of the rapid antigen test-based SARS-CoV-2 screening programme in schools, Austria, March 2021
Figure 2
Figure 2
Cq values of unpooled RT-qPCR of positively tested participants in Round 3 compared with Rounds 1 and 2, School-SARS-CoV-2 study, Austria, March 2021 (n = 92 in Rounds 1 and 2, n = 16 in Round 3)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Modelled sensitivity of antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme assuming a range of positive predictive values and point estimates of the negative predictive value detected in the School-SARS-CoV-2 study, Austria, March 2021
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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