ArticleThe Lancet. Infectious diseases2021
Performance and operational feasibility of antigen and antibody rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients in Cameroon: a clinical, prospective, diagnostic accuracy study.
Article in The Lancet. Infectious diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 61 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- Rapid, point-of-care antigen tests for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Rapid, point-of-care antigen tests for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Accuracy of novel antigen rapid diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2: A living systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Assessing the Benefit of Two Detection Approaches in Screening COVID-19 Using SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Tests among Intercity Public Bus Travelers in Cameroon.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Trial
- Detection of ongoing asymptomaticFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Spike following infection in individuals from Cameroon.Virology · 2025Article
- Comparison of a Commercial SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test with Real-Time PCR.Infectious diseases & clinical microbiology · 2024Article
- Questionnaire-based study of COVID-19 vaccination induced headache: evidence of clusters of adverse events.BMC neurology · 2024Article
- Performance evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 rapid diagnostic tests in Nigeria: A cross-sectional study.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- SARS-CoV-2 Virus Detection Via a Polymeric Nanochannel-Based Electrochemical Biosensor.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2023Article
- Epidemiology of the Acceptance of Anti COVID-19 Vaccine in Urban and Rural Settings in Cameroon.Vaccines · 2023Article
- Rapid Antigen Tests during the COVID-19 Era in Korea and Their Implementation as a Detection Tool for Other Infectious Diseases.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on in-hospital mortality in patients admitted through the emergency department.Clinical and experimental emergency medicine · 2023Article
- Conventional and Novel Diagnostic Tools for the Diagnosis of Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants.Vaccines · 2023Review
- Clinical Features of COVID-19, Dengue, and Influenza among Adults Presenting to Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Clinics-Puerto Rico, 2012-2021.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Article
- Risk factors associated with indoor transmission during home quarantine of COVID-19 patients.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies in HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients in clinical settings in Douala, Cameroon.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2023Article
- Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
29 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundReal-time PCR is recommended to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, PCR availability is restricted in most countries. Rapid diagnostic tests are considered acceptable alternatives, but data are lacking on their performance. We assessed the performance of four antibody-based rapid diagnostic tests and one antigen-based rapid diagnostic test for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in the community in Cameroon.
methodsIn this clinical, prospective, diagnostic accuracy study, we enrolled individuals aged at least 21 years who were either symptomatic and suspected of having COVID-19 or asymptomatic and presented for screening. We tested peripheral blood for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using the Innovita (Biological Technology; Beijing, China), Wondfo (Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech; Guangzhou, China), SD Biosensor (SD Biosensor; Gyeonggi-do, South Korea), and Runkun tests (Runkun Pharmaceutical; Hunan, China), and nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 antigen using the SD Biosensor test. Antigen rapid diagnostic tests were compared with Abbott PCR testing (Abbott; Abbott Park, IL, USA), and antibody rapid diagnostic tests were compared with Biomerieux immunoassays (Biomerieux; Marcy l'Etoile, France). We retrospectively tested two diagnostic algorithms that incorporated rapid diagnostic tests for symptomatic and asymptomatic patients using simulation modelling.
findings1195 participants were enrolled in the study. 347 (29%) tested SARS-CoV-2 PCR-positive, 223 (19%) rapid diagnostic test antigen-positive, and 478 (40%) rapid diagnostic test antibody-positive. Antigen-based rapid diagnostic test sensitivity was 80·0% (95% CI 71·0-88·0) in the first 7 days after symptom onset, but antibody-based rapid diagnostic tests had only 26·8% sensitivity (18·3-36·8). Antibody rapid diagnostic test sensitivity increased to 76·4% (70·1-82·0) 14 days after symptom onset. Among asymptomatic participants, the sensitivity of antigen-based and antibody-based rapid diagnostic tests were 37·0% (27·0-48·0) and 50·7% (42·2-59·1), respectively. Cohen's κ showed substantial agreement between Wondfo antibody rapid diagnostic test and gold-standard ELISA (κ=0·76; sensitivity 0·98) and between Biosensor and ELISA (κ=0·60; sensitivity 0·94). Innovita (κ=0·47; sensitivity 0·93) and Runkun (κ=0·43; sensitivity 0·76) showed moderate agreement. An antigen-based retrospective algorithm applied to symptomatic patients showed 94·0% sensitivity and 91·0% specificity in the first 7 days after symptom onset. For asymptomatic participants, the algorithm showed a sensitivity of 34% (95% CI 23·0-44·0) and a specificity of 92·0% (88·0-96·0).
interpretationRapid diagnostic tests had good overall sensitivity for diagnosing SARS-CoV-2 infection. Rapid diagnostic tests could be incorporated into efficient testing algorithms as an alternative to PCR to decrease diagnostic delays and onward viral transmission.
fundingMédecins Sans Frontières WACA and Médecins Sans Frontières OCG. TRANSLATIONS: For the French and Spanish translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.
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