COVID-19 Antigen Test Better At Identifying Who Is Still Infectious

Becton Dickenson and Co's BD Veritor System for rapid detection of the novel coronavirus is better than gold standard real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) lab tests at distinguishing between infectious and non-infectious virus in swab samples obtained within a week of symptom onset, according to a new study.

One drawback of RT-PCR is that patients can test positive even after they are no longer infectious, because the tests detect small amounts of viral RNA that most likely represent infected cells that have died.

Newer antigen-based tests like the BD Veritor, which look for viral proteins instead of RNA, could potentially "be used to identify and isolate contagious individuals more effectively than current RNA-based (RT-PCR) testing," coauthor Celine Roger-Dalbert of BD Life Sciences told Reuters.

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She added, "Although it may not replace RNA-based testing, because we still need to identify anyone who was infected in order to trace the spread of the virus, it should help make isolation more efficient and effective as a public health intervention used to slow down the spread of COVID-19."

The study results were published on medRxiv ahead of peer review.

—Reuters Staff

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