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Tag: testing
June 14, 2021
A Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid and Spike Antibody Detection Using Three Commercially Available Automated Immunoassays
A study comparing the Abbott SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid IgG, Beckman-Coulter SARS-CoV-2 spike IgG, and Roche Anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid total antibody assays found that all three demonstrated 100% specificity, and sensitivities of 98%, 93%, and 90%, respectively. After the exclusion of samples from immunocompromised patients, all assays exhibited ≥95% sensitivity. In sequential samples collected from the same individuals,…
June 11, 2021
Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infections After Full Schedule BNT162b2 Vaccination in Seropositive Healthcare Workers: A Case Series From a Single Institution
Data from a voluntary surveillance program at a single medical center in Italy revealed that 11 healthcare workers who had been fully vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had SARS-CoV-2 detected in nasopharyngeal swabs and 5 of these persons had mild symptoms. The average cycle threshold (Ct) in detected infections was 19 (range 6-26). However, no…
June 8, 2021
Improved Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 by Using Nucleoprotein and Spike Protein Fragment 2 in Quantitative Dual ELISA Tests
A combination of two quantitative ELISA assays using SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) and spike subunit 2 (S2) was able to detect at least 10% more true positive COVID-19 cases compared to a commercially available antibody test (Abbott) when tested against a panel of 42 SARS-CoV-2 positive serum samples and 37 negative control samples. Analysis of assay…
June 4, 2021
A Comparison of Four Commercially Available RNA Extraction Kits for Wastewater Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in a College Population
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A comparison of four commercially available RNA extraction kits found that the Zymo Quick-RNA Viral kit yielded the most consistent, timely, and accurate results for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater from a college campus. Although wastewater-based surveillance has been performed as an early detection system for enteric viruses, most of these viruses…
June 3, 2021
Performance of Self-Collected Saliva Testing Compared with Nasopharyngeal Swab Testing for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2
There was high correlation in the SARS-CoV-2 viral load measurements from paired self-collected pure saliva (SCPS) and nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) from asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients with confirmed COVID-19 (r=0.72; n=31). SCPS performance was more similar to NPS among samples obtained from symptomatic adults, with 74% of samples in agreement. Carrouel et al. (May 12, 2021)….
May 26, 2021
Multiplexed Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Respiratory Infections in High Throughput by SARSeq
A novel molecular test for detection of SARS-CoV-2 called SARSeq (saliva analysis by RNA sequencing) demonstrated sensitivity approximately equal to existing RT-PCR tests, high specificity, and low cost while utilizing equipment available in most molecular biology facilities. The test can be run on up to 36,000 samples in parallel with a turnaround time of 12-24…
Feasibility and Utility of Rapid Antigen Testing for COVID-19 in a University Residence a Cross Sectional Study
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] An evaluation of a rapid testing program among 1141 resident students and staff at a university in British Columbia found that the use of rapid antigen tests was feasible, inexpensive, and increased sensitivity for detection of active SARS-CoV-2 infections. The testing program utilized the BD Veritor COVID-19 rapid antigen test and participants…
SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Testing in Healthcare Workers a Comparison of the Clinical Performance of Three Commercially Available Antibody Assays
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A comparison of commercially available SARS-CoV-2 antibody assays found that the Roche Anti-SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid Total Antibody test (Roche) detected antibodies for at least seven months after confirmed natural infection with while sensitivity of the Abbott Anti-SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid IgG (Abbott) declined over time. Among serum samples from healthcare workers (N=5,788) with previously confirmed…
May 24, 2021
Clinical and Experimental Factors That Affect the Reported Performance Characteristics of Rapid Testing for SARS-CoV-2
[Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A systematic review (n = 83 studies) of the diagnostic accuracy of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen lateral flow testing (RALFT) compared to RT-qPCR among symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals found the overall sensitivity for RALFT was 75%, and the sensitivity was higher among symptomatic individuals. Viral load was the most important factor for test…
May 21, 2021
Controlling COVID-19 via Test-Trace-Quarantine
A modeling study found that high coverage of a test-trace-quarantine approach to COVID-19 containment could be sufficient for epidemic control even under a return to full workplace capacity and community mobility in a setting with low vaccine coverage. This approach involves regularly testing people with COVID-19 symptoms, identifying and testing potentially exposed contacts, and placing…
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