Importance of external quality assessment for SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Antigen testing has become an essential part of fighting the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With the continual increase in available tests, independent and extensive comparative evaluations using data from external quality assessment (EQA) studies to evaluate test performance between different users are required.

Objectives

An EQA scheme was established to assess the sensitivity of antigen tests and the potential impact of circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains on their performance.

Study design

Panels were prepared for three challenges in 2021 containing inactivated SARS-CoV-2-positive samples of various genetic strains (including variants of concern, VOCs) at different concentrations, and negative samples. Data was analysed based on qualitative testing results in rel

SUBMITTER: Donoso Mantke O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9235289 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature