Rapid antigen tests, which give immediate results in the diagnosis of coronavirus infection, are generally reliable, especially when used correctly.
The British researchers, who published the paper in the journal Microbiology “The Lancet Microbe”, according to Reuters, evaluated six fast tests with wide circulation in the market and compared them with molecular PCR tests.
Rapid tests have been found to have “good” sensitivity (ability to detect those infected with the coronavirus) and “excellent” specificity (ability to correctly distinguish those who have not been infected).
The study concluded that these rapid tests have a diagnostic accuracy of Covid-19 infection of 65% to 89%, which increases to over 90% when the patient’s viral load is high.