Impact of Omicron variant sublineage BA.2.75 on the OnSite COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test: the applicability of rapid antigen test with universal transport media
Issued Date
2023-01-01
Resource Type
ISSN
23744235
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85176907615
Journal Title
Infectious Diseases
Rights Holder(s)
SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Infectious Diseases (2023)
Suggested Citation
Okada P.A., Nuchnoi P., Buayai K., Phuygun S., Thongpramul N., Plabplueng C., Rojanawiwat A., Uppapong B., Sirilak S. Impact of Omicron variant sublineage BA.2.75 on the OnSite COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test: the applicability of rapid antigen test with universal transport media. Infectious Diseases (2023). doi:10.1080/23744235.2023.2280025 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/91205
Title
Impact of Omicron variant sublineage BA.2.75 on the OnSite COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test: the applicability of rapid antigen test with universal transport media
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
Background: Rapid antigen testing (RAT) is one of the most powerful tools for SARS-CoV-2 detection. The OnSite COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test is an antigen-based, point-of-care test approved by the WHO for Emergency Use Listing. The Nucleocapsid (N) gene mutations found in the emerging Omicron sublineages lead to the question of RAT performance. Objective: To ensure the diagnostic performance of the study RAT during rapidly mutated Omicron variants. Results: We independently evaluated the performance of this assay in 1098 archived samples collected in Thailand during October 2022–February 2023, which were 798 and 300 COVID-19 real-time RT-PCR positive and negative, respectively. The assay performed with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity using a cycle threshold (Ct) of <20 for the RT-PCR. The sensitivity decreased to 88% when using Ct <30. Most of the SARS-CoV-2 found were Omicron BA.2 (99%), harboring six known N mutations (P13L, E31del, S33del, R203K, G204R and S413R). Eight samples containing hybrid variants (XBB.1*, XBB.2 and XBJ) were detected by the study RAT. This RAT detects all Omicron sublineages known to be circulating in Thailand. Conclusions: These results confirmed the good performance of the study RAT for detecting Omicron variants and its appropriateness for individual diagnosis and for genomic surveillance.