Result for
Tag: testing
August 28, 2020
Self-Diagnosed COVID-19 in People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Community-Based Cohort of the UK MS Register
A prospective observational cohort study found that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and those taking immunomodulatory disease-modifying therapies were not at elevated risk of COVID-19. Among people with MS, 237 of 3,910 (6%) participants reported self-diagnosed COVID-19, which was a similar risk to among their siblings without MS (OR: 1.2, 95%CI: 0.9-1.6). Participants taking disease-modifying…
August 27, 2020
Notes from the Field: Universal Statewide Laboratory Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in Nursing Homes — West Virginia
During March 17–April 16, 2020, 307 COVID-19 cases were reported among residents and staff members in 7 nursing homes in West Virginia, 4 of which had outbreaks involving 20–40 residents. In response, the governor ordered universal testing among all 123 nursing homes in the state (April 21–May 8), which resulted in the identification of 42…
Rapid, Point-of-Care Antigen and Molecular-Based Tests for Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection
A Cochrane review of rapid tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection (18 cohorts,3,198 samples) evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of five point-of-care antigen tests and four rapid molecular assays. They report the average sensitivity of antigen tests was 56% (95%CI 30-80%) and specificity was 99% (98-100%) based on five studies with 943 samples. The average sensitivity of rapid…
August 26, 2020
Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in Children Accuracy of Nasopharyngeal Swab Compared to Nasopharyngeal Aspirate
[pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Comparing the diagnostic performance of nasopharyngeal swab (NS) to nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in children (n=300 paired samples), NS was found to have a low sensitivity in detecting SARS-CoV-2 in children when referred to NPA. The authors recommend that in children under 6 years of age, NS should…
Saliva Sample Pooling for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2
Pasomsub et al. showed that pooling of either five or ten saliva samples for testing by SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR did not compromise the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Pasomsub et al. (Aug 25, 2020). Saliva Sample Pooling for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2. Journal of Medical Virology. https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.26460
August 25, 2020
Diagnostic Yield of Repeat Testing for SARS-CoV-2: Experience from a Large Health System in Los Angeles
Adamson et al. conducted a retrospective analysis of 10,165 SARS-CoV-2 test results from the UCLA Health System to determine the diagnostic yield of repeat testing and found that among 808 patients who did repeat testing following an initial negative test, only 2% subsequently tested positive. Investigators suggest certain clinical scenarios may benefit from repeat testing,…
August 21, 2020
Low-Cost Polyester-Tipped 3-Dimensionally-Printed Nasopharyngeal Swab for the Diagnosis of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus 2
• 3D-printed polyester-tipped swabs were shown to be effective for use in nasopharyngeal sample collection and diagnosis of COVID-19. Overall concordance between the prototype and control swabs was 81%, with most discordant results resulting from prototype-positive, control-negative results. The prototype had higher sensitivity than the control swabs (91% vs. 81%). • The authors suggest that…
August 20, 2020
Information given by Websites Selling Home Self-Sampling COVID-19 Tests An Analysis of Accuracy and Completeness
• [Preprint, not peer-reviewed] Taylor-Phillips et al. reviewed 27 websites selling home self-sampling and testing kits for COVID-19 (39 tests in UK and 2 tests in US), of which 23 offered molecular virus testing services and 18 offered antibody testing services. They report that 22% tests were provided with the name or manufacturer, 76% included…
Mass Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in 16 Prisons and Jails — Six Jurisdictions, United States
The mass testing conducted among incarcerated or detained persons across 16 prisons and jails from 6 US jurisdictions (April 11-May 20, 2020) identified a total of 8,239 persons with SARS-CoV-2 among 16,392 individuals tested, representing a median 12-fold increase over the number of cases in each facility by earlier symptom-based testing. Prevalence in jails and…
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