Course: Antigen vs RT-PCR Tests for Screening Quarantined Students in Florida During the COVID-19 Pandemic SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Surge
CME Credits: 1.00
Released: 2022-03-07
In the US, schools opened in fall 2021 during a surge of COVID-19 cases attributed to the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended masking in schools and return to school of asymptomatic quarantined close contacts at day 7 after the last date of SARS-CoV-2 exposure with a negative test result or at day 10 without a test. Rapid antigen tests have been proposed as a tool to reduce or even eliminate quarantine, but there are uncertainties about their performance compared with real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.- Most validation studies on these tests were done before the Delta variant emerged, which may impact results because of the variant’s higher viral load. The aim of this study was to assess whether rapid antigen and RT-PCR tests gave comparable results and whether antigen testing on day 5 after SARS-CoV-2 exposure would be helpful in making decisions about when quarantined children can return to school.
Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article
View Full Course