• Jhong-Lin Wu, Wen-Pin Tseng, Chien-Hao Lin, Tai-Fen Lee, Ming-Yi Chung, Chien-Hua Huang, Shey-Ying Chen, Po-Ren Hsueh, and Shyr-Chyr Chen.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, 7, Chung Shan South Road, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
• J. Infect. 2020 Sep 1; 81 (3): 435-442.

ObjectivesWe aimed to evaluate the role of rapid serological tests in the management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients.MethodsThis retrospective study enrolled 16 real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction-confirmed symptomatic patients with COVID-19 and 58 COVID-19 negative patients at a medical center in Taiwan over a 3-month period. Serial serum samples were collected and tested for antibody response using four point-of-care (POC) lateral flow immunoassays (LFIA) (ALLTEST 2019-nCoV IgG/IgM Rapid Test, Dynamiker 2019-nCoV IgG/IgM Rapid Test, ASK COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test, and Wondfo SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Test). Time-dependent detection sensitivity and timeliness of seroconversion were determined and compared between the four POC rapid tests.ResultsThe overall sensitivity and specificity of the four tests for detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies after 3 weeks of symptom onset were 100% and 100%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the rapid tests used for detection of IgM and IgG separately and those used for detection of combined total antibody (mainly IgM/IgG). There was no significant difference between the four POC rapid tests in terms of time required for determining seroconversion of COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 with pneumonia demonstrated shorter seroconversion time than those without pneumonia.ConclusionThough the POC antibody rapid tests based on LFIA showed reliable performance in the detection of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies, the results of these tests should be interpreted and applied appropriately in the context of antibody dynamic of COVID-19 infection. COVID-19 patients complicated with pneumonia exhibited earlier anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody response than COVID-19 patients without pneumonia.Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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