Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

May 11, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test: High Sensitivity to Detect Infectious Virus

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  • Overall sensitivity of the Panbio rapid antigen test was 71.8% and the sensitivity of the Orient Gene rapid antigen tests was 79.5% for the detection of 156 PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 positive samples. Tested against a panel of PCR-confirmed negative samples, the Panbio test achieved 100% specificity (130 of 130 negative samples) and the Orient Gene test achieved 79.5% specificity (131 of 176 negative samples). Both tests had improved sensitivities (>88%) for samples with cycle threshold values < 25. For samples with culturable virus, the Panbio and Orient Gene tests had sensitivities of 94.1% and 97.1%, respectively. 

Nordgren et al. (Apr 24, 2021). SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test: High Sensitivity to Detect Infectious Virus. Journal of Clinical Virology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2021.104846