biostudies-literatureChallen RMedical Research CouncilNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR)National Institute for Health and Care ResearchEngineering and Physical Sciences Research Councile1012062https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11078360biostudies-literatureUnknown20(4)Multiplex panel tests identify many individual pathogens at once, using a set of component tests. In some panels the number of components can be large. If the panel is detecting causative pathogens for a single syndrome or disease then we might estimate the burden of that disease by combining the results of the panel, for example determining the prevalence of pneumococcal pneumonia as caused by many individual pneumococcal serotypes. When we are dealing with multiplex test panels with many components, test error in the individual components of a panel, even when present at very low levels, can cause significant overall error. Uncertainty in the sensitivity and specificity of the individual tests, and statistical fluctuations in the numbers of false positives and false negatives, will causePLoS computational biologyCombined multiplex panel test results are a poor estimate of disease prevalence without adjustment for test error.PMC11078360EP/Y028392/1ACF-2015-25-002MR/X018598/1EP/T017856/1Oben GQian GTsaneva-Atanasova KFinn AChallen RKwiatkowska RChatzilena AHyams CDanon LfalseCombined multiplex panel test results are a poor estimate of disease prevalence without adjustment for test error.Multiplex panel tests identify many individual pathogens at once, using a set of component tests. In some panels the number of components can be large. If the panel is detecting causative pathogens for a single syndrome or disease then we might estimate the burden of that disease by combining the results of the panel, for example determining the prevalence of pneumococcal pneumonia as caused by many individual pneumococcal serotypes. When we are dealing with multiplex test panels with many components, test error in the individual components of a panel, even when present at very low levels, can cause significant overall error. Uncertainty in the sensitivity and specificity of the individual tests, and statistical fluctuations in the numbers of false positives and false negatives, will cause2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Apr2026-03-12T22:55:21.337Z2025-08-12T03:04:50.621ZS-EPMC110783603866929310.1371/journal.pcbi.1012062