Authors: Mohamed Hussien Kambal, Abu Baker Altom Ahmed, Nadir Abuzeid, Eleragi AMS, Mohamed E Elangeeb, Khalid Elyass Awadelkarim, Najem Aldin M Osman.
Since 2019, SARS-Corona virus-2 has been confirmed as causing acute respiratory illness worldwide with significant morbidity and mortality rates. There is an urgent need for fast, reliable diagnostic techniques for the purpose of control measures. The present study aimed to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of rapid immunochromatography tests for detecting SARSCoV-2 antigens and antibodies (ICT-Ag/Ab) against the approved polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. One hundred and two nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from symptomatic patients. An additional twenty-five specimens were received as negative controls. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) for the detection of nuclear and envelope genes was carried out. ICTs for the detection of Ags and Abs were performed for the two groups and compared with the molecular method. Low sensitivity was detected for both ICTs, Ag/Ab as 59.8% and 32.4%, respectively. The calculated specificity was also low for ICT-Ag (48%) and ICT-Ab (48%) against the RT-PCR technique. Among observed symptoms, a significant association (p-value 0.004) was determined for throat pain with ICT-Ag within the RT-PCR positive group. No significant difference was determined for ICTAb among observed symptoms within the RT-PCR positive group (p-value > 0.05). The study revealed moderate sensitivity and low specificity for ICT/Ag and decreased values of both sensitivity and specificity for ICT/Ab compared with RT-PCR.
View/Download pdf