Preemptive rapid antigen test as an emergency measure during coronavirus disease 2019 outbreaks
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22081288 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yaping Pan (0000-0001-6711-8992, Naval Medical Research Command), Yong Liu (0000-0001-6741-4863, Naval Medical Research Command), Ye Jiang (0000-0002-6683-0205, Naval Medical Research Command), Jin Cai (0000-0003-1597-8143, Naval Medical Research Command, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Pages | 1764471-1764471 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-23 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Frontiers in Public Health (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2296-2565 • E-ISSN: 2296-2565 |
| Publisher | Frontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH) |
| DOI | 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1764471 |
| PMID | 41810307 |
| OpenAlex | W7131120443 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
Background: We acknowledge that the rapid antigen test (RAT) has several advantages, including faster results, cost-effectiveness, and suitability for on-site self-testing. However, there is still controversy regarding the performance of the RAT for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of this study was to evaluate RAT screening in a COVID-19 outbreak situation. Methods: SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Test Kit and the SARS-CoV-2 Nucleic Acid Test Kit, respectively. Furthermore, we retrospectively investigated diagnostic data from a total of 813 participants. Then, we analyzed sensitivity and specificity using RT-PCR as the reference method. In addition, we compared our data with those from another published study involving serial screening using the chi-squared test, in which 541 samples were analyzed. Results: Our study showed that the sensitivity and specificity of the RAT were 0.82 and 1.00, respectively. We found a slightly higher false-negative rate, corresponding to decreased sensitivity, in our data compared to the previous study; however, the difference was not statistically significant. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in the false-positive rate, corresponding to specificity, between the two studies. Conclusion: The current results indicate that a RAT with a single screening does not pose an additional risk of inaccurate diagnosis of COVID-19 compared to serial screening. The strategy of a preemptive RAT might be an effective emergency measure to prevent COVID-19 transmission at an early stage of an outbreak
Antigen · Coronavirus · Disease · False Negative Reactions · Outbreak · Polymerase chain reaction · Significant difference · Biosensors and Analytical Detection · SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research · SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |