RAPID ANTIGEN DETECTION KIT AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR SARS COV-2

Background: The rst case of SARS CoV2 was detected in December 2019 from Wuhan city of China and in January 2020 from India. Since then, COVID-19 disease was rapidly spread out to all over the world and presented as severe pandemic. Real time RT-PCR is the gold standard frontline test for diagnosis of COVID-19 disease, caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus but it is time consuming and requires specialized laboratory facilities interms of equipment, biosafety & biosecurity. Material & Methods: This retrospective study was undertaken from duration of June 2020 to October 2021 at B.J Medical college, Ahmedabad. In this study four rapid antigen detection test kits were evaluated for acceptance and fourteen rapid Ag Detection kits were validated (batch validation) as per ICMR guidelines and compared with gold standard real-time RT-PCR test at BJMC Ahmedabad. Considering real-time RT-PCR as the gold standard test, the sensitivity and specicity of the rapid antigen test kits were calculated. Result: One out of four rapid Ag detection kits for evaluation, and all out of Fourteen in use approved rapid Ag detection kits for batch validation, were showing sensitivity more than 50% and specicity 100% and fullled the acceptance criteria dened by ICMR. Conclusion: Though gold standard test is real time PCR, rapid Ag tests help in early detection and containment of infection, allay the anxiety and fear of healthcare workers and aid in better clinical management of the patients.