Journal of Clinical Trials
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-0870
ISSN: 2167-0870
Division of the Nutrition Epidemiology and Data Science, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA
Research Article
Validating and Modeling the Impact of High-Frequency Rapid Antigen Screening on COVID-19 Spread and Outcomes
Author(s): Beatrice Nash, Anthony Badea, Ankita Reddy, Miguel Bosch, Nol Salcedo, Adam R. Gomez, Alice Versiani, Gislaine Celestino Dutra Silva and Thayza Maria Izabel Lopes dos Santos
High frequency screening of populations has been proposed as a strategy in facilitating control of the COVID-19
pandemic. We use computational modeling, coupled with clinical data from rapid antigen tests, to predict the impact
of frequent viral antigen rapid testing on COVID-19 spread and outcomes. Using patient nasal or nasopharyngeal
swab specimens, we demonstrate that the sensitivity/specificity of two rapid antigen tests compared to quantitative real-
time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) are 82.0%/100% and 84.7%/85.7%, respectively; moreover, sensitivity
correlates directly with viral load. Based on COVID-19 data from three regions in the United States and São José do
Rio Preto, Brazil, we show that high frequency, strategic population-wide rapid testing, even at varied accuracy levels,diminishes COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths .. View More»
DOI:
10.35248/2167-0870.21.11.483