April 20, 2020

Evaluation of antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 using ELISA and lateral flow immunoassays

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Testing and Treatment

• Recognizing the need for robust antibody detection testing, Crook tested plasma for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies by ELISA and 9 different commercially available lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) devices. ELISA has a sensitivity of 85% (34/40) ≥10 after symptom onset and a specificity of 100% (142/142), whereas the performance of LFIA was much lower with point estimates for sensitivity ranging from 55-70% and specificity from 95-100%. 
• If antibody tests are deployed as an individual-level approach to inform release from quarantine, then high-specificity is essential, as false-positive results return non-immune individuals to risk of exposure. The author concludes that LFIA devices may be useful for population-level surveys, but are currently inadequate for individual patient applications.  

Crook (Apr 20, 2020). Evaluation of antibody testing for SARS-CoV-2 using ELISA and lateral flow immunoassays. Pre-print downloaded Apr 20 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.15.20066407