Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34812417›Full record

ArticleInfection prevention in practice2021

Real-world deployment of lateral flow SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection in the emergency department to provide rapid, accurate and safe diagnosis of COVID-19.

B Merrick, M Noronha, R Batra, S Douthwaite, G Nebbia, L B Snell, S Pickering, R P Galao, J Whitfield, A Jahangeer and 10 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Infection prevention in practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

B MerrickCentre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
M NoronhaEmergency Department, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
R BatraCentre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
S DouthwaiteCentre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
G NebbiaCentre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
L B SnellCentre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
S PickeringDepartment of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
R P GalaoDepartment of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
J WhitfieldGuy's King's and Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College London, UK.
A JahangeerGuy's King's and Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College London, UK.
R GunawardenaGuy's King's and Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College London, UK.
T GodfreyCentre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
R LaifaEmergency Department, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
K WebberInfection Sciences, Viapath LLP, UK.
P R CliffInfection Sciences, Viapath LLP, UK.
E CunninghamInfection Sciences, Viapath LLP, UK.
S J D NeilDepartment of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
H GettingsEmergency Department, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
J D EdgeworthCentre for Clinical Infection and Diagnostics Research, Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences, King's College London, UK.
H L HarrisonEmergency Department, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust · GBKing's College London · GBKing's College School · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/T005416/1Wellcome Trust 207442/Z/17/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPoint-of-care (POC) SARS-CoV-2 lateral-flow antigen detection (LFD) testing in the emergency department (ED) could inform rapid infection control decisions but requirements for safe deployment have not been fully defined.

methodsReview of LFD test results, laboratory and POC-RT-PCR results and ED-performance metrics during a two-week high SARS-CoV-2 prevalence period followed by several months of falling prevalence.

aimDetermine whether LFD testing can be safely deployed in ED to provide an effective universal SARS-CoV-2 testing capability.

findings93% (345/371) of COVID-19 patients left ED with a virological diagnosis during the 2-week universal LFD evaluation period compared to 77% with targeted POC-RT-PCR deployment alone, on background of approximately one-third having an NHS Track and Trace RT-PCR test-result at presentation. LFD sensitivity and specificity was 70.7% and 99.1% respectively providing a PPV of 97.7% and NPV of 86.4% with disease prevalence of 34.7%. ED discharge-delays (breaches) attributable to COVID-19 fell to 33/3532 (0.94%) compared with the preceding POC-RT-PCR period (107/4114 (2.6%); p=<0.0001). Importantly, LFD testing identified 1 or 2 clinically-unsuspected COVID-19 patients/day. Three clinically-confirmed LFD false positive patients were appropriately triaged based on LFD action-card flowchart, and only 5 of 95 false-negative LFD results were inappropriately admitted to non-COVID-19 areas where no onward-transmission was identified. LFD testing was restricted to asymptomatic patients when disease prevalence fell below 5% and detected 1-3 cases/week.

conclusionUniversal SARS-CoV-2 LFD testing can be safely and effectively deployed in ED alongside POC-RT-PCR testing during periods of high and low disease prevalence.

Indexed as

ED, Emergency DepartmentEmergency departmentLateral flow viral antigen detection devicesLFDLFD, lateral flow antigen detectionNosocomial transmissionSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID34812417
PMCPMC8598289
OpenAlexW3212301045

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.