Therapy Areas: Devices
Research finds rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 may be unreliable in children
20 January 2022 -

New research has found that rapid antigen tests used in children for detecting COVID-19 do not meet accuracy criteria set by the World Health Organization and US and UK device regulators, Reuters news agency reported on Thursday.

The research trials evaluated six brands of tests in more than 6,300 children and teenagers through May 2021. In all but one study, the tests were administered by trained workers.

Results reported in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine show that overall, compared to PCR tests, the antigen tests failed to detect COVID-19 in 36% of infected children.

Among children with symptoms, the antigen test missed 28% of infections, while in those without symptoms, the tests missed the virus in 44%. Only about 1% of the time did the tests mistakenly diagnose the virus in a child who was not actually infected.

The researchers concluded that although the performance of most rapid antigen tests under real-life conditions remains unknown, these findings "cast doubt on the effectiveness" of the tests for widespread testing in schools.

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