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Field evaluation of a commercially available COVID-19 rapid antigen test kit

Authors:

V. R. Francis ,

Eastern University, LK
About V. R.
Faculty of Health-Care Sciences
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M. A. R. V. Muthugala

National Hospital, Kandy, LK
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Abstract

Filtering out of infectious individuals to interrupt the chain of transmission is the major strategy for control of COVID-19 pandemic. Rapid antigen testing is a useful tool to achieve this purpose. We evaluated a commercial rapid antigen test kit (STANDARD Q COVID-19 Ag test, SD Biosensor, Republic of Korea) which was supplied by the Ministry of health, Sri Lanka for COVID -19 testing, at field level in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka.

 

We tested 40 known COVID-19 positive asymptomatic persons and 143 asymptomatic vendors working in a congested public market, regarded as a high-risk location using STANDARD Q COVID-19 Ag test and the gold standard real-time RT-PCR on simultaneous samples according to the manufacturers’ instructions.

 

The overall sensitivity of the STANDARD Q COVID-19 Ag kit was 58.5% (95% CI: 44 , 72) which increased to 79.4% in people with high viral load (Ct<25). Specificity of this kit. in our study was 100%.

 

We recommend rapid antigen test as a primary screening test for community surveillance as it is a cost-effective measure of pandemic control.

How to Cite: Francis, V.R. and Muthugala, M.A.R.V., 2021. Field evaluation of a commercially available COVID-19 rapid antigen test kit. Sri Lankan Journal of Infectious Diseases, 11(1), pp.13–17. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/sljid.v11i1.8356
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Published on 30 Apr 2021.
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