Relationship of SARS-CoV-2 Antigen and Reverse Transcription PCR Positivity for Viral Cultures

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 717 - 720
• Main Authors: Currie, Dustin W., Shah, Melisa M., Salvatore, Phillip P., Ford, Laura, Whaley, Melissa J., Meece, Jennifer, Ivacic, Lynn, Thornburg, Natalie J., Tamin, Azaibi, Harcourt, Jennifer L., Folster, Jennifer, Medrzycki, Magdalena, Jain, Shilpi, Wong, Phili, Goffard, Kimberly, Gieryn, Douglas, Kahrs, Juliana, Langolf, Kimberly, Zochert, Tara, Hsu, Christopher H., Kirking, Hannah L., Tate, Jacqueline E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01.03.2022; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Antigens; Antigens, Viral; Asymptomatic; Comparative analysis; coronavirus disease; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; Diagnostic tests; Disease control; Dispatch; Epidemics; Humans; Immune system; Medical laboratories; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Relationship of SARS-CoV-2 Antigen and Reverse Transcription PCR Positivity for Viral Cultures; Reverse Transcription; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Testing; viruses; United States; United States > US; Wisconsin; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; viruses; reverse transcription PCR; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; cycle threshold; rapid antigen test; zoonoses; coronavirus disease; coronaviruses; viral cultures; respiratory infections
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid2803.211747

We assessed the relationship between antigen and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) test positivity and successful virus isolation. We found that antigen test results were more predictive of virus recovery than RT-PCR results. However, virus was isolated from some antigen-negative and RT-PCR‒positive paired specimens, providing support for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention antigen testing algorithm.