Clinical Evaluation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Rapid Antigen Tests During the Omicron Wave in South Africa
Natasha Samsunder, Margaretha de Vos, Sinaye Ngcapu, Jennifer Giandhari, Lara Lewis, Ayesha B. M. Kharsany, Cherie Cawood, Túlio de Oliveira, Quarraisha Abdool Karim, Salim S. Abdool Karim, Kogieleum Naidoo, Camille Escadafal, Aida Sivro
Abstract
We evaluated the performance of nasal and nasopharyngeal Standard Q COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] Ag tests (SD Biosensor) and the Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device (nasal; Abbott) against the Abbott RealTime severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) assay during the Omicron (clades 21M, 21K, and 21L) wave in South Africa. Overall, all evaluated tests performed well, with high sensitivity (range, 77.78%-81.42%) and excellent specificity values (>99%). The sensitivity of rapid antigen tests increased above 90% in samples with cycle threshold <20, and all 3 tests performed best within the first week after symptom onset.