Hospital

Background: The performance characteristics of the PanbioTM COVID-19 Ag test was evaluated at an emergency room setting against RT-PCR, considered the gold-standard for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, in Sa~o Paulo, Brazil. The study aimed to determine the sensitivity, specificity, Positive Percent Agreement (PPA), and Negative Percent Agreement (NPA) as compared to RT-PCR. Methods: Specimens from 127 suspected patients were tested by both the PanbioTM COVID19 Ag test and by RT-PCR. Results: In relation to RT-PCR using Ct values < 40 as the upper limit for positivity, the PanbioTM COVID-19 Ag test showed an overall sensitivity of 84.3% (95% CI 75-93.8%) and 98.2% (95% CI 96-98.8%) overall specificity. For Ct values < 25 (n = 37), the PanbioTM COVID-19 Ag test showed 97% sensitivity. Discussion: The concordance between the PanbioTM COVID-19 Ag test and RT-PCR was 97% at Ct values below 25 but decreased at higher Ct values. For disease control, it is very important to identify infected individuals who present COVID-19 symptoms and also those who are suspected of infection due to contact with infected individuals. Conclusion: The PanbioTM COVID-19 Ag test is suitable for use as a diagnostic test for rapid screening of patients presenting COVID-19 symptoms, or those suspected of being infected, prior to being admitted to hospital. (c) 2022 Sociedade Brasileira de Infectologia. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Automated summary

The study evaluated the performance of the PanbioTM COVID-19 Ag test against RT-PCR, and found that it had high sensitivity and specificity for the detection of COVID-19. The test is suitable for rapid screening of patients with COVID-19 symptoms and for diagnosing suspected cases.