Assessment of the Field Utility of a Rapid Point-of-Care Test for SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in a Household Cohort.

Churiwal, Mehal; Lin, Kelly D; Khan, Salman; Chhetri, Srijana; Muller, Meredith S; Tompkins, Kathleen; Smith, Judy; Litel, Christy; Whittelsey, Maureen; Basham, Christopher; +4 more... Rapp, Tyler; Cerami, Carla; Premkumar, Lakshmanane; Lin, Jessica T; (2021) Assessment of the Field Utility of a Rapid Point-of-Care Test for SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in a Household Cohort. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 106 (1). pp. 156-159. ISSN 0002-9637 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.21-0592

Abstract

Point-of-care (POC) tests to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies offer quick assessment of serostatus after natural infection or vaccination. We compared the field performance of the BioMedomics COVID-19 IgM/IgG Rapid Antibody Test against an ELISA in 303 participants enrolled in a SARS-CoV-2 household cohort study. The rapid antibody test was easily implemented with consistent interpretation across 14 users in a variety of field settings. Compared with ELISA, detection of seroconversion lagged by 5 to 10 days. However, it retained a sensitivity of 90% (160/177, 95% confidence interval [CI] 85-94%) and specificity of 100% (43/43, 95% CI 92-100%) for those tested 3 to 5 weeks after symptom onset. Sensitivity was diminished among those with asymptomatic infection (74% [14/19], 95% CI 49-91%) and early in infection (45% [29/64], 95% CI 33-58%). When used appropriately, rapid antibody tests offer a convenient way to detect symptomatic infections during convalescence.