The dark side of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing: screening asymptomatic patients

G. Caruana; L.-L. Lebrun; O. Aebischer; O. Opota; L. Urbano; M. de Rham; O. Marchetti; G. Greub

New Microbes and New Infections (Jul 2021)

The dark side of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing: screening asymptomatic patients

G. Caruana,
L.-L. Lebrun,
O. Aebischer,
O. Opota,
L. Urbano,
M. de Rham,
O. Marchetti,
G. Greub

Affiliations

G. Caruana: Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Switzerland
L.-L. Lebrun: Patients Safety Program, Ensemble Hospitalier de la Côte (EHC), Morges, Switzerland
O. Aebischer: Patients Safety Program, Ensemble Hospitalier de la Côte (EHC), Morges, Switzerland
O. Opota: Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Switzerland
L. Urbano: Patients Safety Program, Ensemble Hospitalier de la Côte (EHC), Morges, Switzerland
M. de Rham: CoVID-19 Task Force Direction, Ensemble Hospitalier de la Côte (EHC), Morges, Switzerland
O. Marchetti: Patients Safety Program, Ensemble Hospitalier de la Côte (EHC), Morges, Switzerland
G. Greub: Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland; Corresponding author: G. Greub, Institute of Microbiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Switzerland

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 42
p. 100899

Abstract

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Several reports showed SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RATs) performances among COVID-19 symptomatic subjects in outpatient settings during periods of highest incidence of infections and high rates of hospital admissions, but few data are present for asymptomatic patients. We investigated the role of RATs in an emergency department, as a novel screening tool before admission for COVID-19 asymptomatic patients. A total of 116 patients were screened on admission in a 250-bed community hospital in Morges, Switzerland. RAT detected 2/7 RT-PCR-positive patients and delivered two false-positive results. These data suggest the non-fiability of RATs screening in this clinical scenario.

Published in New Microbes and New Infections

ISSN: 2052-2975 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Infectious and parasitic diseases
Website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/new-microbes-and-new-infections

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