Test sensitivity is secondary to frequency and turnaround time for COVID-19 surveillance.
medRxiv
; 2020 Sep 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-827482
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a public health crisis. Because SARS-CoV-2 can spread from individuals with pre-symptomatic, symptomatic, and asymptomatic infections, the re-opening of societies and the control of virus spread will be facilitated by robust surveillance, for which virus testing will often be central. After infection, individuals undergo a period of incubation during which viral titers are usually too low to detect, followed by an exponential viral growth, leading to a peak viral load and infectiousness, and ending with declining viral levels and clearance. Given the pattern of viral load kinetics, we model surveillance effectiveness considering test sensitivities, frequency, and sample-to-answer reporting time. These results demonstrate that effective surveillance depends largely on frequency of testing and the speed of reporting, and is only marginally improved by high test sensitivity. We therefore conclude that surveillance should prioritize accessibility, frequency, and sample-to-answer time; analytical limits of detection should be secondary.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
Language:
English
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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