Rapid Diagnostic Testing for SARS-CoV-2

• Published in: The New England journal of medicine Vol. 386; no. 3; pp. 264 - 272
• Main Author: Drain, Paul K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Massachusetts Medical Society 20.01.2022
• Subjects: Adult; Algorithms; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Antigens; Antigens, Viral - blood; Asymptomatic; Clinical Medicine; Clinical Medicine General; Clinical Practice; Coronavirus; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - transmission; COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing; COVID-19 Serological Testing; COVID-19 vaccines; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - complications; Diagnostic tests; Diagnostics; Disease transmission; FDA approval; Female; Genes, Viral; Health care; Humans; Infections; Infectious Disease; Infectious Disease General; Laboratories; Medical diagnosis; Pandemics; Pathogens; Pathophysiology; Public health; Quarantine; SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; SARS-CoV-2 - immunology; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; United States > US; Europe
• ISSN: 0028-4793; 1533-4406; 1533-4406
• DOI: 10.1056/NEJMcp2117115

RDTs for SARS-CoV-2 — either molecular nucleic acid amplification tests or antigen-based immunoassays to detect proteins — are approved for persons with Covid-19 symptoms and asymptomatic persons with known exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or those in a high-transmission setting. Antigen-based tests have lower sensitivity than PCR tests, but they may correlate better with replication-competent virus.