The Usefulness of Antigen Testing in Predicting Contagiousness in COVID-19
Tulio J. Lopera, Juan Carlos Alzate-Ángel, Francisco J. Díaz, Marı́a Teresa Rugeles, Wbeimar Aguilar-Jiménez
Abstract
The importance of our results is the excellent agreement between the Standard Q COVID-19 antigen test and the viral culture, indicating that it is important as a marker of contagiousness. Due to its high positive predictive value in situations of a high prevalence of infection, positive results do not require confirmation with another test. Likewise, its high negative predictive value for contagiousness makes possible to use this test as a criterion to discharge patients in isolation and screen people moving into environments that could facilitate the transmission of the virus. Screening people with antigen testing is a good approach to prevent SARS-CoV-2 contagion and allow returning to daily activities.