Performance Evaluation of a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) during Omicron Pandemic Wave in Greece, Conducted by Different Personnel, and Comparison with Performance in Previous Wave (Alpha Variant) Period
Maria A. Kyritsi,
Matthaios Speletas,
Varvara Mouchtouri,
Evangelia Vachtsioli,
Dimitrios Babalis,
Olympia Kouliou,
Anastasia Tsispara,
Maria Tseroni,
Christos Hadjichristodoulou
Affiliations
Maria A. Kyritsi
Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41222 Larissa, Greece
Matthaios Speletas
Department of Immunology and Histocompatibility, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece
Varvara Mouchtouri
Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41222 Larissa, Greece
Evangelia Vachtsioli
Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41222 Larissa, Greece
Dimitrios Babalis
Emergency Department, General Hospital of Larissa, 41221 Larissa, Greece
Olympia Kouliou
Emergency Department, General Hospital of Larissa, 41221 Larissa, Greece
Anastasia Tsispara
Emergency Department, General Hospital of Larissa, 41221 Larissa, Greece
Maria Tseroni
Directorate of Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases, National Public Health Organization, 15123 Athens, Greece
Christos Hadjichristodoulou
Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Thessaly, 41222 Larissa, Greece
Due to the prevailing ambiguity regarding the performance of rapid antigen tests (RATs) for B.1.1.529 (Omicron) variant diagnosis, a commercial RAT was evaluated in the emergency ward of a general hospital in Larissa, Central Greece. The sampling and the evaluation were repeated twice by different personnel. Discordance between the two samplings was observed regarding the sensitivity (47.5%, 95% CI: 39.0–56.1 vs. 78.6%, 95% CI: 69.1–86.2) and specificity (93.8%, 95% CI: 86.0–97.9 vs. 100.0%, 95% CI: 93.3–100.0) of the RAT. Furthermore, the test displayed slightly lower sensitivity (78.6% vs. 85.5%, 95% CI: 79.1–90.5) compared to its initial evaluation that was conducted by our team when the B.1.1.7 (Alpha) variant was dominant.
