Improved detection of infection with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants of concern in healthcare workers by a second-generation rapid antigen test

Jochen M Wettengel; Katharina Strehle; Catharina von Lucke; Hedwig Roggendorf; Samuel D Jeske; Catharina Christa; Otto Zelger; Bernhard Haller; Ulrike Protzer; Percy A Knolle

doi:10.1128/spectrum.01768-23

Improved detection of infection with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants of concern in healthcare workers by a second-generation rapid antigen test

Microbiol Spectr. 2023 Dec 12;11(6):e0176823. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01768-23. Epub 2023 Oct 13.

Authors

Jochen M Wettengel^#^{1

2}, Katharina Strehle^#^{3

4}, Catharina von Lucke⁴, Hedwig Roggendorf^{3

4}, Samuel D Jeske¹, Catharina Christa¹, Otto Zelger⁴, Bernhard Haller⁵, Ulrike Protzer^#^{1

2

6}, Percy A Knolle^#^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Virology, School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich (TUM) , München, Germany.
² German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Munich Partner Site , München, Germany.
³ Institute of Molecular Immunology, School of Medicine and Health, TUM , München, Germany.
⁴ Coronavirus Diagnostic Center of the University Hospital München Rechts der Isar, School of Medicine, TUM , München, Germany.
⁵ Institute for AI and Informatics in Medicine Statistics, School of Medicine and Health, TUM , München, Germany.
⁶ Institute of Virology, Helmholtz Munich , München, Germany.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The results from this study demonstrate the usefulness of a second-generation rapid antigen test for early detection of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant of concern (VoC) and reveal a higher sensitivity to detect immune escape Omicron VoCs compared to a first-generation rapid antigen test (89.4% vs 83.7%) in the high-risk group of healthcare workers.

Keywords: coronavirus; epidemiology; hospital infections; rapid tests.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / diagnosis
Health Personnel
Humans
SARS-CoV-2*

Supplementary concepts

SARS-CoV-2 variants