Usefulness of the Rapid Antigen Test in Detecting SARS-CoV-2 for Infection Control in Hospitals
- PMID: 38014727
- PMCID: PMC10990885
- DOI: 10.3947/ic.2023.0077
Usefulness of the Rapid Antigen Test in Detecting SARS-CoV-2 for Infection Control in Hospitals
Abstract
Background: We aimed at evaluating the diagnostic performance of rapid antigen test (RAT) compared to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and the possible transmission of infection to close contacts from patients with negative RAT and positive PCR results.
Materials and methods: Patients/guardians urgently requiring admission to the ward on the same day had been hospitalized with RAT-negative result before the PCR results were available. We performed an epidemiologic investigation of the close contacts of those with negative RAT but positive PCR results after hospitalization.
Results: A total of 4,237 RATs were performed from March to August 2022. When the PCR test was used as the reference, RAT had a sensitivity of 28.8% (17/59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 17.8 - 42.1), a specificity of 100% (4,220/4,220; 95% CI, 99.9 - 100.0), a positive predictive value of 100.0% (17/17; 95% CI, 100.0 - 100.0), and a negative predictive value of 99.0% (4,178/4,220; 95% CI, 99.3 - 99.8). The epidemiologic investigation revealed that among the 32 patients with negative RAT and subsequent positive PCR results after admission into multi-patient room, two (6.3%) showed secondary coronavirus disease 2019.
Conclusion: The secondary transmission rate from patients with negative RAT and positive PCR results was low. Our data suggest that RAT may be useful for rapid exclusion of high transmissible cases. However, further evaluation using whole genome sequencing is needed to determine the potential for transmissibility in cases showing a negative RAT but a positive PCR result.
Keywords: COVID-19; Contact tracing; Infection control; Rapid diagnostic test.
Copyright © 2024 by The Korean Society of Infectious Diseases, Korean Society for Antimicrobial Therapy, and The Korean Society for AIDS.
Conflict of interest statement
No conflict of interest.
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Comment in
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Response to Usefulness of the Rapid Antigen Test in Detecting SARS-CoV-2 for Infection Control in Hospitals.Infect Chemother. 2024 Jun;56(2):282-283. doi: 10.3947/ic.2024.0035. Epub 2024 May 13. Infect Chemother. 2024. PMID: 38859719 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
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