Rapid antigen test

Rapid antigen test
SynonymsRapid antigen detection test (RADT), lateral flow test, lateral flow device, rapid test, Antigen rapid test
PurposeTo diagnose infections

A rapid antigen test (RAT), sometimes called a rapid antigen detection test (RADT), antigen rapid test (ART), or just a rapid test, is a rapid diagnostic test suitable for point-of-care testing that directly detects the presence or absence of an antigen. It has been commonly used for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Rapid tests are a type of lateral flow tests that detect antigens, distinguishing it from other medical tests that detect antibodies (antibody tests) or nucleic acid (nucleic acid tests), of either laboratory or point-of-care types. Rapid tests generally give a result in 5 to 30 minutes, require minimal training or infrastructure, and have significant cost advantages.

For many years, an early and major class of RATs, the rapid strep tests for streptococci, were so often the referent when RATs or RADTs were mentioned that the 2 latter terms were often loosely treated as synonymous with those; today, more precise usage is advisable, as other major classes of RATs are just as important.

Uses

Common examples of RATs or RADTs include:

COVID-19 rapid antigen tests

Rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 are one of the most useful application of these tests. Often called lateral flow tests, they have provided global governments with several benefits. They are quick to implement with minimal training, offered significant cost advantages, costing a fraction of existing forms of PCR testing and give users a result within 5–30 minutes. Rapid antigen tests have found their best use as part of mass testing or population-wide screening approaches.[2] They are successful in these approaches because in addition to the aforementioned benefits, they identify individuals who are the most infectious and could potentially spread the virus to a large number of other people.[3] This differs slightly from other forms of COVID-19 tests such as PCR that are generally seen to be a useful test for individuals.

As early as February 2021, the US Department of State considered the antigen test suitable for entry to the country.[4] In Canada, although the antigen test appeared to be no route to entry in January 2021,[5] Health Canada in August 2021 made available subsidized at no cost rapid antigen tests "to more small and medium-sized organizations through new pharmacy partners".[6]

Scientific basis and underlying biology

Antigen tests and antibody tests are often immunoassays (IAs) of one kind or another, such as dipstick IAs or fluorescence immunoassays; however, RAT is an immunochromatographic assay which gives visual results that can be seen with the naked eye. It is considered to be qualitative but a person experienced in RDT testing can easily quantify the results. Being a screening test, if the sensitivity and specificity are relatively low for the test then the results should be evaluated on the basis of confirmatory tests like PCR testing or western blot.

One inherent advantage of an antigen test over an antibody test (such as antibody-detecting rapid HIV tests) is that it can take time for the immune system to develop antibodies after infection begins, but the foreign antigen is present right away. Although any diagnostic test may have false negatives, this latency period can open an especially wide avenue for false negatives in antibody tests, although the particulars depend on which disease and which test are involved. A rapid antigen test typically costs around US$5.00 to manufacture.

References

  1. ↑ Stewart EH, Davis B, Clemans-Taylor BL, Littenberg B, Estrada CA, Centor RM (2014-11-04). "Rapid antigen group A streptococcus test to diagnose pharyngitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis". PLOS ONE. 9 (11): e111727. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...9k1727S. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111727. PMC 4219770. PMID 25369170.
  2. ↑ "Press corner". European Commission - European Commission. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  3. ↑ Guglielmi G (September 2020). "Fast coronavirus tests: what they can and can't do". Nature. 585 (7826): 496–498. Bibcode:2020Natur.585..496G. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-02661-2. PMID 32939084.
  4. ↑ "COVID-19 Testing Required for U.S. Entry". U.S. Department of State. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Pihach, Michael (25 January 2021). "Why does Canada accept PCR (instead of antigen) tests? Health Canada explains". PAXGlobalmedia.
  6. ↑ "Government of Canada makes rapid antigen tests available to more small and medium-sized organizations through new pharmacy partners". Verizon Media. yahoo! finance. 14 August 2021.
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