Longitudinal Assessment of Diagnostic Test Performance Over the Course of Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection.
Rebecca L SmithLaura L GibsonPamela P MartinezRuian KeAgha MirzaMadison ConteNicholas GallagherAbigail ConteLeyi WangRichard FredricksonDarci C EdmonsonMelinda E BaughmanKaren K ChiuHannah ChoiTor W JensenKevin R ScardinaShannon BradleyStacy L GlossCrystal ReinhartJagadeesh YedetoreAlyssa N OwensJohn BroachBruce BartonPeter LazarDarcy HennessTodd YoungAlastair DunnettMatthew L RobinsonHeba H MostafaAndrew S PekoszYukari C ManabeWilliam J HeetderksDavid D McManusChristopher B BrookePublished in: The Journal of infectious diseases (2021)
RT-qPCR tests are more effective than antigen tests at identifying infected individuals prior to or early during the infectious period and thus for minimizing forward transmission (given timely results reporting). All tests showed >98% sensitivity for identifying infected individuals if used at least every 3 days. Daily screening using antigen tests can achieve approximately 90% sensitivity for identifying infected individuals while they are viral culture positive.