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Rapid screening for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection with a combined point-of-care antigen test and an immunoglobulin G antibody test
Author(s) -
Kosuke Mori,
Shohei Imaki,
Yutaro Ohyama,
K. Satoh,
Takeru Abe,
Ichiro Takeuchi
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0263327
Subject(s) - antigen , antibody , medicine , polymerase chain reaction , point of care testing , virology , reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction , immunoglobulin g , immunology , biology , gene , biochemistry , messenger rna
Rapid screening and diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 in the emergency department is important for controlling infections. When polymerase chain reaction tests cannot be rapidly performed, rapid antigen testing is often used, albeit with insufficient sensitivity. Therefore, we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of combining rapid antigen and antibody test results. This was a retrospective review of patients who visited our emergency department between February and May 2021 and underwent rapid antigen, immunoglobulin G antibody, and reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction tests. The study included 1,070 patients, of whom 56 (5.2%) tested positive on reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. The sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve of rapid antigen testing were 73.7%, 100.0%, and 0.87, respectively. The combined rapid antigen and antibody test result had improved diagnostic accuracy, with 91.2% sensitivity, 97.9% specificity, and an area under the curve of 0.95. The results of the rapid antigen and antibody tests could be combined as a reliable alternative to reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction.

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