This study evaluates the performance of the antigen-based anterior nasal screening programme implemented in all Austrian schools to detect SARS-CoV-2 infections. We combined nationwide antigen-based screening data obtained in March 2021 from 5,370 schools (Grade 1-8) with an RT-qPCR-based prospective cohort study comprising a representative sample of 244 schools. Considering a range of assumptions, only a subset of infected individuals are detected with the programme (low to moderate sensitivity) and non-infected individuals mainly tested negative (very high specificity).
Peter Willeit, Benoît Bernar, Christoph Zurl, Mariam Al-Rawi, Andrea Berghold, David Bernhard, Wegene Borena, Christian Doppler, Reinhold Kerbl, Alwin Köhler, Robert Krause, Bernd Lamprecht, Johannes Pröll... more , Hannes Schmidt, Ivo Steinmetz, Evelyn Stelzl, Heribert Stoiber, Dorothee von Laer, Johannes Zuber, Thomas Müller, Volker Strenger, and Michael Wagner. less
Clinical Epidemiology Team, Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
Eurosurveillance. 2021 Aug 1; 26 (34).
AbstractThis study evaluates the performance of the antigen-based anterior nasal screening programme implemented in all Austrian schools to detect SARS-CoV-2 infections. We combined nationwide antigen-based screening data obtained in March 2021 from 5,370 schools (Grade 1-8) with an RT-qPCR-based prospective cohort study comprising a representative sample of 244 schools. Considering a range of assumptions, only a subset of infected individuals are detected with the programme (low to moderate sensitivity) and non-infected individuals mainly tested negative (very high specificity).