Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

March 30, 2021

Performance and Operational Feasibility of Antigen and Antibody Rapid Diagnostic Tests for COVID-19 in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Patients in Cameroon: A Clinical, Prospective, Diagnostic Accuracy Study

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  • A novel testing algorithm combining RT-PCR and antigen rapid diagnostic testing developed in Cameroon had 94% sensitivity and 91% specificity for detection of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection within 7 days of symptom onset and outperformed PCR testing alone (75% sensitivity and 99% specificity). The algorithm was designed based on retrospectively performing 1000 simulation runs on empirical testing data from 1,195 participants. The algorithm also outperforms the sensitivity of PCR testing alone to identify asymptomatic infections (34% vs 30%) by incorporating rapid antibody diagnostic testing in the screening process.

Boum et al. (Mar 25, 2021). Performance and Operational Feasibility of Antigen and Antibody Rapid Diagnostic Tests for COVID-19 in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Patients in Cameroon: A Clinical, Prospective, Diagnostic Accuracy Study. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00132-8