Challenges of Scaling Up SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Tests

Abstract

The current reference standard for the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the molecular detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Several rapid antigen tests (RATs) have been developed for the rapid and inexpensive detection of SARS-CoV-2, which can be used at the point-of-care. Although RATs have lower SARS-CoV-2 detection sensitivity than molecular tests, the development of a more cost-effective highthroughput test system that offers a rapid turnaround time is vital for curtailing the spread of SARS-CoV-2. However, because of the growing concern over the substantial risk of false negative results, RATs should be used in conjunction with molecular tests and therefore, an appropriate test algorithm should be developed to achieve this purpose.

Keywords

• rapid antigen tests
• sars-cov-2