scholarly journals Evaluation of Large-Scale Rapid Antigen Testing of Incoming Passengers at a Dynamic Point of Care Setting Carried Out by Dental Students for Covid-19 Screening – A Field Report

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (33) ◽  
pp. 2734-2739
Author(s):  
Akshay K. Langalia ◽  
Dolly P. Patel ◽  
Aravind D. Kumbhar ◽  
Hetal J. Maheshwari ◽  
Shubhangi K. Vyas ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Assessment of the results of large-scale rapid antigen diagnostic (RAD) testing for detection of SARS-CoV-2 amongst incoming passengers was carried out by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) Dental College Students at the Central Railway Station of Ahmedabad city. We wanted to determine the sensitivity and specificity of RAD testing for detection of Covid-19 amongst passengers disembarking from scheduled trains arriving at the Central Railway Terminus of Ahmedabad city. METHODS Under the campaign “Chase the Virus” launched by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Interns & Final Year students of AMC Dental College were trained to carry out rapid antigen testing of scheduled trains running on special routes starting from 07 / 09 / 2020 to 05 / 10 / 2020. 14 dental teams were deputed at a temporary testing facility formulated for day-to-day testing at the Central Station using the standalone Standard - Q Covid-19 Ag testing kit (SD Biosensor, South Korea). RESULTS In total, 18901 travellers were tested in a span of 26 days out of which 324 tested positive with an overall percentage positivity of 1.71 %. An average number of 727 (± 182) tests were performed with an overall sensitivity of 66.01 % and specificity of 99.71 %. CONCLUSIONS In response to the growing Covid-19 pandemic and complexity of laboratory-based molecular tests, rapid antigen detection tests have proved to be efficient in the easier and faster diagnosis of the passengers in such point of care settings. KEY WORDS Rapid Antigen Detection Test, Covid-19, SARS-CoV-2

2021 ◽  
pp. 39-40
Author(s):  
Rehana Amin ◽  
Insha Mehraj

Background The present study was aimed to know the knowledge and attitude of patients towards mandatory pre-ECT Rapid Antigen Detection Test during COVID-19 Pandemic. A 18 item questionnaire Method was formulated to asses the knowledge and attitude of patients towards rapid antigen testing in patients who were planned for electroconvulsive therapy. A total of 100 patients were taken for study. Our study showed that majority of our patients had knowledge about Results RAT (61%), its advantages (66%) and why the test was done and were of the opinion that it will help us to stop the spread of infection. However, 82% of the patients gave the positive responses that they fear the test results and around 5% of them were of the opinion that they would prefer cancellation of ECT than to undergo testing. Majority (93%) of our cases gave the positive response on that they were anxious about redoing the test. From our study we concluded Conclusion that though most of them had good knowledge about the test but most of them had negative attitude towards the test.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Basso ◽  
Ada Aita ◽  
Andrea Padoan ◽  
Chiara Cosma ◽  
Filippo Navaglia ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundSARS-CoV-2 quick testing and reporting are now considered relevant for the containment of new pandemic waves. Antigen testing in self-collected saliva might be useful. We compared the diagnostic performance of salivary and naso-pharyngeal swab (NPS) SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection by a rapid chemiluminescent assay (CLEIA) and two different point-of-care (POC) immunochromatographic assays, with that of molecular testing.Methods234 patients were prospectively enrolled. Paired self-collected saliva (Salivette) and NPS were obtained to perform rRT-PCR, chemiluminescent (Lumipulse G) and POC (NPS: Fujirebio and Abbott; saliva: Fujirebio) for SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection.ResultsThe overall agreement between NPS and saliva rRT-PCR was 78.7%, reaching 91.7% at the first week from symptoms onset. SARS-CoV-2 CLEIA antigen was highly accurate in distinguishing between positive and negative NPS (ROC-AUC=0.939, 95%CI:0.903-0.977), with 81.6% sensitivity and 93.8% specificity. This assay on saliva had an overall good accuracy (ROC-AUC=0.805, 95%CI:0.740-0.870), reaching the optimal value within 7 days from symptom onset (Sensitivity: 72%; Specificity: 97%). POC antigen in saliva had a very limited sensitivity (13%), performing better in NPS (Sensitivity: 48% and 66%; Specificity: 100% and 99% for Espline and Abbott respectively), depending on viral loads.ConclusionsSelf-collected saliva is a valid alternative to NPS for SARS-CoV-2 detection not only by molecular, but also by CLEIA antigen testing, for which the highest diagnostic accuracy was achieved in the first week from symptom onset. Saliva is not suitable for POC, although the accuracy of these tests appears satisfactory for NPS with high viral load.


Author(s):  
Sarfaraz Ahmad Ejazi ◽  
Sneha Ghosh ◽  
Nahid Ali

The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has not only commenced a global health emergency but agitated various aspects of humanity. During this period of crisis researchers over the world have ramped their efforts to constrain the disease in all possible ways whether it is vaccination, therapy, or diagnosis. Since the spread of the disease has not yet elapsed sharing the ongoing research findings could be the key to disease control and management. An early and efficient diagnosis could leverage the outcome until a successful vaccine is developed. Molecular tests both in-house and commercial kits are preferably being used worldwide in the COVID-19 diagnosis. However, the limitation of high prices and lengthy procedures impede their use for mass testing. Keeping the constant rise of infection in mind search for an alternative test that should be cost-effective, simple, and suitable for large scale testing and surveillance is a need of an hour. One such alternative could be the immunological tests. Therefore, in the last few months deluge of immunological rapid tests has been developed and validated across the globe. The objective of the present review is to share the diagnostic performance of various immunological assays reported so far in SARS-CoV-2 case detection. The article consolidated the studies (published and preprints) related to the serological tests such as chemiluminescence, enzyme-linked and lateral flow-based point-of-care tests in COVID-19 diagnosis and updated the current scenario. This review will hopefully be an add-on in COVID-19 research and will contribute to congregate the evidence for decision-making.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Korenkov ◽  
Nareshkumar Poopalasingam ◽  
Matthias Madler ◽  
Kanika Vanshylla ◽  
Ralf Eggeling ◽  
...  

The identification and isolation of highly infectious SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals is an important public health strategy. Rapid antigen detection tests (RADT) are promising candidates for large-scale screenings due to timely results and feasibility for on-site testing. Nonetheless, the diagnostic performance of RADT in detecting infectious individuals is yet to be fully determined. Two combined oro- and nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from individuals at a routine SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic center. Side-by-side evaluations of RT-qPCR and RADT as well as live virus cultures of positive samples were performed to determine the sensitivity of the Standard Q COVID-19 Ag Test (SD Biosensor/Roche) in detecting SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals with cultivable virus. A total of 2,028 samples were tested and 118 virus cultures inoculated. SARS-CoV-2 infection was detected in 210 samples by RT-qPCR, representing a positive rate of 10.36%. The Standard Q COVID-19 Ag Test yielded a positive result in 92 (4.54%) samples resulting in an overall sensitivity and specificity of 42.86% and 99.89%. For adjusted Ct values <20, <25, and <30 the RADT reached sensitivities of 100%, 98.15%, and 88.64%, respectively. All 29 culture positive samples were detected by RADT. While overall sensitivity was low, Standard Q COVID-19 RADT reliably detected patients with high RNA loads. Additionally, negative RADT results fully corresponded with the lack of viral cultivability in Vero E6 cells. These results indicate that RADT can be a valuable tool for the detection of individuals that are likely to transmit SARS-CoV-2. RADT testing could therefore guide public health testing strategies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (SPL1) ◽  
pp. 847-851
Author(s):  
Nithyanandham Masilamani ◽  
Dhanraj Ganapathy

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) induced by new ß coronavirus MERS-(CoV) had first been described in Saudi Arabia in September 2012. MERS-CoV communication inside the population is often identified with clustered households and cramped communal spaces. The purpose of the study is to assess the knowledge and awareness of MERS-CoV among dental students in India. This was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey of 100 dental college students in Chennai. The self-designed questionnaires contained ten questions focused on the knowledge and awareness of MERS-CoV amongst dental college students. Questionnaires were circulated through an online website survey planet. After the responses were received from 100 participants, data were collected and analyzed, .87% are aware of MERS-CoV through media 13% from professional channels. 84%are aware of the clinical manifestation of MERS-CoV. 81%Are aware of the mode of transmission of MERS-CoV. 76%are aware of the preventive measures against MERS -CoV.68%. Are aware of the incubation period of MERS-CoV. 74%aware of PCR as a diagnostic test for MERS-CoV. This study concluded that dental students had strong awareness and knowledge of MERS. Also, there are a few differences in information and behaviours that require change. Large-scale health educational programs on MERS also should be facilitated by professional organizations to expand their reach and to strengthen knowledge to have a positive impact on their behaviour.


Diagnosis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Mattiuzzi ◽  
Brandon M. Henry ◽  
Giuseppe Lippi

AbstractAlthough the most effective strategy for preventing or containing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreaks relies on early diagnosis, the paramount and unprecedented number of tests needed to fully achieve this target is overwhelming worldwide testing supply and capacity. Molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in nasopharyngeal swabs is still considered the reference diagnostic approach. Nonetheless, identification of SARS-CoV-2 proteins in upper respiratory tract specimens and/or saliva by means of rapid (antigen) immunoassays is emerging as a promising screening approach. These tests have some advantages compared to molecular analysis, such as point of care availability, no need of skilled personnel and dedicated instrumentation, lower costs and short turnaround time. However, these advantages are counterbalanced by lower diagnostic sensitivity compared to molecular testing, which would only enable to identifying patients with higher SARS-CoV-2 viral load. The evidence accumulated to-date has hence persuaded us to develop a tentative algorithm, which would magnify the potential benefits of rapid antigen testing in SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics.


Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1352
Author(s):  
Darius Riziki Martin ◽  
Nicole Remaliah Sibuyi ◽  
Phumuzile Dube ◽  
Adewale Oluwaseun Fadaka ◽  
Ruben Cloete ◽  
...  

The transmission of Tuberculosis (TB) is very rapid and the burden it places on health care systems is felt globally. The effective management and prevention of this disease requires that it is detected early. Current TB diagnostic approaches, such as the culture, sputum smear, skin tuberculin, and molecular tests are time-consuming, and some are unaffordable for low-income countries. Rapid tests for disease biomarker detection are mostly based on immunological assays that use antibodies which are costly to produce, have low sensitivity and stability. Aptamers can replace antibodies in these diagnostic tests for the development of new rapid tests that are more cost effective; more stable at high temperatures and therefore have a better shelf life; do not have batch-to-batch variations, and thus more consistently bind to a specific target with similar or higher specificity and selectivity and are therefore more reliable. Advancements in TB research, in particular the application of proteomics to identify TB specific biomarkers, led to the identification of a number of biomarker proteins, that can be used to develop aptamer-based diagnostic assays able to screen individuals at the point-of-care (POC) more efficiently in resource-limited settings.


Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 561
Author(s):  
Mariana Ulinici ◽  
Serghei Covantev ◽  
James Wingfield-Digby ◽  
Apostolos Beloukas ◽  
Alexander G. Mathioudakis ◽  
...  

While molecular testing with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) remains the gold-standard test for COVID-19 diagnosis and screening, more rapid or affordable molecular and antigen testing options have been developed. More affordable, point-of-care antigen testing, despite being less sensitive compared to molecular assays, might be preferable for wider screening initiatives. Simple laboratory, imaging and clinical parameters could facilitate prognostication and triage. This comprehensive review summarises current evidence on the diagnostic, screening and prognostic tests for COVID-19.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document