• Gannon C K Mak, Stephen S Y Lau, WongKitty K YKKYAll from Microbiology Division, Public Health Laboratory Services Branch, Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region., Nancy L S Chow, C S Lau, Edman T K Lam, ChanRickjason C WRCWAll from Microbiology Division, Public Health Laboratory Services Branch, Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region., and Dominic N C Tsang.
• All from Microbiology Division, Public Health Laboratory Services Branch, Centre for Health Protection, Department of Health, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: so_phls10@dh.gov.hk.
• J. Clin. Virol. 2021 Jan 1; 134: 104712.

BackgroundCurrently, there are two rapid antigen detection (RAD) kits from the WHO Emergency Use List for detecting SARS-CoV-2.ObjectiveThe Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device was selected to evaluate the performance for detecting SARS-CoV-2.Study DesignAnalytical sensitivity for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus was determined by limit of detection (LOD) using RT-PCR as a reference method. Clinical sensitivity was evaluated by using respiratory specimens collected from confirmed COVID-19 patients.ResultsThe LOD results showed that the RAD kit was 100 fold less sensitive than RT-PCR. Clinical sensitivity of the RAD kit was 68.6 % for detecting specimens from COVID-19 patients.ConclusionsThe RAD kit evaluated in the present study shared similar performance with another kit from the WHO Emergency Use List, the Standard Q COVID-19 Ag. Understanding the clinical characteristics of RAD kits can guide us to decide different testing strategies in different settings.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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