There have been several false-positive results in the antibody detection of COVID-19. This study aimed to analyze the distribution characteristics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) in false-positive results using chemiluminescent immunoassay. The characteristics of false-positive results in SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG tests were analyzed. The false-positive proportion of single SARS-CoV-2 IgM-positive results was 95.88%, which was higher than those of single SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive results (71.05%; p < 0.001) and SARS-CoV-2 IgM- and IgG-positive results (39.39%; p < 0.001). The S/CO ratios of SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG in false-positive results ranged from 1.0 to 50.0. The false-positive probability of SARS-CoV-2 IgM in the ratios of specimen signals to the cutoff value (S/CO) range (1.0-3.0) was 95.06% (77/81), and the probability of false-positive results of SARS-CoV-2 IgG in the S/CO range (1.0-2.0) was 85.71% (24/28). Dynamic monitoring showed that the S/CO values of IgM in false-positive results decreased or remained unchanged, whereas the S/CO values of IgG in false-positive results decreased. The possibility of false-positive single SARS-CoV-2 IgM-positive and single SARS-CoV-2 IgG-positive results was high. As the value of S/CO ratios decreased, the probability of false-positives consequently increased, especially among the single SARS-CoV-2 IgM-positive results.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; antibody; chemiluminescent immunoassay; false positive; immunoglobulin G; immunoglobulin M.
© 2022 Yan Lei et al., published by De Gruyter.