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Estimating the effectiveness of routine asymptomatic PCR testing at different frequencies for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infections
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 00:45 authored by Joel Hellewell, Timothy W Russell, The SAFER Investigators and Field Study Team, Angela McBride, The Crick COVID-19 Consortium, CMMID COVID-19 working group, Rupert Beale, Gavin Kelly, Catherine Houlihan, Eleni Nastouli, Adam J KucharskiBackground Routine asymptomatic testing using RT-PCR of people who interact with vulnerable populations, such as medical staff in hospitals or care workers in care homes, has been employed to help prevent outbreaks among vulnerable populations. Although the peak sensitivity of RT-PCR can be high, the probability of detecting an infection will vary throughout the course of an infection. The effectiveness of routine asymptomatic testing will therefore depend on testing frequency and how PCR detection varies over time. Methods We fitted a Bayesian statistical model to a dataset of twice weekly PCR tests of UK healthcare workers performed by self-administered nasopharyngeal swab, regardless of symptoms. We jointly estimated times of infection and the probability of a positive PCR test over time following infection; we then compared asymptomatic testing strategies by calculating the probability that a symptomatic infection is detected before symptom onset and the probability that an asymptomatic infection is detected within 7?days of infection. Results We estimated that the probability that the PCR test detected infection peaked at 77% (54–88%) 4?days after infection, decreasing to 50% (38–65%) by 10?days after infection. Our results suggest a substantially higher probability of detecting infections 1–3?days after infection than previously published estimates. We estimated that testing every other day would detect 57% (33–76%) of symptomatic cases prior to onset and 94% (75–99%) of asymptomatic cases within 7?days if test results were returned within a day. Conclusions Our results suggest that routine asymptomatic testing can enable detection of a high proportion of infected individuals early in their infection, provided that the testing is frequent and the time from testing to notification of results is sufficiently fast.
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Publication status
- Published
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- Published version
Journal
BMC MedicineISSN
1741-7015Publisher
BMCExternal DOI
Issue
1Volume
19Page range
1-10Article number
a106Event location
EnglandDepartment affiliated with
- Global Health and Infection Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2021-08-26First Open Access (FOA) Date
2021-08-26First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2021-08-26Usage metrics
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