PLoS ONE (Jan 2022)

Laboratory and field evaluation of the STANDARD Q and Panbio™ SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid test in Namibia using nasopharyngeal samples

  • Iyaloo Konstantinus,
  • Douglas Chiwara,
  • Emmy-Else Ndevaetela,
  • Victoria Ndarukwa-Phiri,
  • Nathalia! Garus-oas,
  • Ndahafa Frans,
  • Pentikainen Ndumbu,
  • Andreas Shiningavamwe,
  • Gerhard van Rooyen,
  • Ferlin Schiceya,
  • Lindile Hlahla,
  • Pendapala Namundjebo,
  • Ifeoma Ndozi-Okia,
  • Francis Chikuse,
  • Sirak Hailu Bantiewalu,
  • Kapena Tjombonde

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 9

Abstract

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Background As new SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern emerge, there is a need to scale up testing to minimize transmission of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Many countries especially those in the developing world continue to struggle with scaling up reverse transcriptase polymerase reaction (RT-PCR) to detect SARS-CoV-2 due to scarcity of resources. Alternatives such as antigen rapid diagnostics tests (Ag-RDTs) may provide a solution to enable countries scale up testing. Methods In this study, we evaluated the Panbio™ and STANDARD Q Ag-RDTs in the laboratory using 80 COVID-19 RT-PCR confirmed and 80 negative nasopharyngeal swabs. The STANDARD Q was further evaluated in the field on 112 symptomatic and 61 asymptomatic participants. Results For the laboratory evaluation, both tests had a sensitivity above 80% (Panbio™ = 86% vs STANDARD Q = 88%). The specificity of the Panbio™ was 100%, while that of the STANDARD Q was 99%. When evaluated in the field, the STANDARD Q maintained a high specificity of 99%, however the sensitivity was reduced to 56%. Conclusion Using Ag-RDTs in low resource settings will be helpful in scaling-up SARS-CoV-2 testing, however, negative results should be confirmed by RT-PCR where possible to rule out COVID-19 infection.