The Appropriate Use of Testing for COVID-19.
West J Emerg Med
; 21(3): 470-472, 2020 Apr 13.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-72826
ABSTRACT
Many public officials are calling for increased testing for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and some governments have taken extraordinary measures to increase the availability of testing. However, little has been published about the sensitivity and specificity of the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) nasopharyngeal swabs that are commonly used for testing. This narrative review evaluates the literature regarding the accuracy of these tests, and makes recommendations based on this literature. In brief, a negative RT-PCR nasopharyngeal swab test is insufficient to rule out COVID-19. Thus, over-reliance on the results of the test may be dangerous, and the push for widespread testing may be overstated.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Clinical Laboratory Techniques
/
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
/
Betacoronavirus
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
West J Emerg Med
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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