Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

December 11, 2020

False-negative results of initial RT-PCR assays for COVID-19: A systematic review

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  • A systematic review of 34 studies (12,057 patients) on detection of SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR assays at first use estimated a false-negative rate of 13% (95% CI 9% to 19%), though identified substantial heterogeneity between studies, which ranged in their individual estimates from 1.8% to 58%. The authors were unable to investigate most potential sources of heterogeneity due to data limitations. Only 9 studies reported the interval between symptom onset and testing.

Arevalo-Rodriguez et al. (Dec 10, 2020). False-negative results of initial RT-PCR assays for COVID-19: A systematic review. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242958