Performance of rapid antigen tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 variant diversity and correlation with viral culture positivity: implication for diagnostic development and future public health strategies
Despite the availability of vaccines, COVID-19 continues to be a major health concern, and antigen-based rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) are commonly used as point-of-care or at-home diagnostic tests. In this study, we evaluated the performance of two commercially available Ag-RDTs and a research Ag-RDT to detect multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants using upper respiratory tract swab samples from clinical COVID-19 cases. Furthermore, we determined whether Ag-RDT results correlated with culture positivity, a potential proxy of viral transmissibility. Our results have important implications to inform future testing and response strategies during periods of high COVID-19 transmission with new variants.
Authors
- Brian K. Agan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5114-1669)
- Stephanie A Richard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0530-384X)
- Anthony C Fries (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7556-1353)
- Shanmuga Sozhamannan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6762-7874)
- Joseph J. Walish
- Jennetta Green
- Rupal Mody (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3862-4495)
- Derek Larson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6147-7182)
- Heather Goux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9062-3612)
- Jason Cox (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1919-7996)
- Mark P. Simons (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4316-9709)
- Rhonda E Colombo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0154-1928)
- Darci R. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0719-523X)
- David A Lindholm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5428-7404)
- David Saunders (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0946-1164)
- Andrew Wilson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1809-7846)
- Simon D. Pollett (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2643-4213)
- Milissa U Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3042-4595)
- Robert Deans
Institutions
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation (US)
- Brooke Army Medical Center (US)
- Naval Medical Center San Diego (US)
- Naval Medical Research Command (US)
- William Beaumont Army Medical Center (US)
- Madigan Army Medical Center (US)
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (US)
- United States Air Force (US)
- BioSense (United States) (US)
- Joint Research Center (ES)
- Joint Base San Antonio (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- mBio
- Published
- 2024-10-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02737-24
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.56
Funders
- U.S. Department of Defense
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation
- AstraZeneca
- U.S. Navy
- Defense Health Agency
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases