{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T11:14:13Z","timestamp":1789730053316,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]],"date-time":"2023-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1677715200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100022242","name":"Botnar Research Centre for Child Health","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["DZX2167, DZX2168"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["DZX2167, DZX2168"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100022242","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"government of the Netherlands"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100004423","name":"World Health Organization","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100004423","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001711","name":"Swiss National Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["PCEFP3_181355"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PCEFP3_181355"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001711","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To assess the real-world diagnostic performance of nasal and nasopharyngeal swabs for SD Biosensor STANDARD Q COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Test (Ag-RDT).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Individuals \u22655 years with COVID-19 compatible symptoms or history of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 presenting at hospitals in Lesotho received two nasopharyngeal and one nasal swab. Ag-RDT from nasal and nasopharyngeal swabs were performed as point-of-care on site, the second nasopharyngeal swab used for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as the reference standard.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Out of 2198 participants enrolled, 2131 had a valid PCR result (61% female, median age 41 years, 8% children), 84.5% were symptomatic. Overall PCR positivity rate was 5.8%. The sensitivity for nasopharyngeal, nasal, and combined nasal and nasopharyngeal Ag-RDT result was 70.2% (95%CI: 61.3\u201378.0), 67.3% (57.3\u201376.3) and 74.4% (65.5\u201382.0), respectively. The respective specificity was 97.9% (97.1\u201398.4), 97.9% (97.2\u201398.5) and 97.5% (96.7\u201398.2). For both sampling modalities, sensitivity was higher in participants with symptom duration \u2264 3days versus \u2264 7days. Agreement between nasal and nasopharyngeal Ag-RDT was 99.4%.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The STANDARD Q Ag-RDT showed high specificity. Sensitivity was, however, below the WHO recommended minimum requirement of \u2265 80%. The high agreement between nasal and nasopharyngeal sampling suggests that for Ag-RDT nasal sampling is a good alternative to nasopharyngeal sampling.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0278653","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]],"date-time":"2023-03-02T13:34:39Z","timestamp":1677764079000},"page":"e0278653","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Head-to-head comparison of nasal and nasopharyngeal sampling using SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing in Lesotho"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3599-1791","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Niklaus D.","family":"Labhardt","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lucia","family":"Gonz\u00e1lez Fern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4562-0612","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Bulemba","family":"Katende","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Josephine","family":"Muhairwe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moniek","family":"Bresser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alain","family":"Amstutz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tracy R.","family":"Glass","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Morten","family":"Ruhwald","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jilian A.","family":"Sacks","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Camille","family":"Escadafal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mathabo","family":"Mareka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sekhele M.","family":"Mooko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Margaretha","family":"de Vos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Klaus","family":"Reither","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]]},"reference":[{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0278653.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"415","DOI":"10.1038\/s41576-021-00360-w","article-title":"Testing at scale during the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"22","author":"TR Mercer","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat Rev Genet"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref002","article-title":"Coronavirus Disease 2019 Diagnostics: Key to Africa\u2019s Recovery.","author":"S Naidoo","journal-title":"DNA Cell Biol"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"557797","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2020.557797","article-title":"Implementing COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Rapid Diagnostic Tests in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review.","volume":"7","author":"J Jacobs","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Med."},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref004","first-page":"2021","volume":"25","journal-title":"Antigen-detection in the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection Accessed"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0278653.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1003735","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pmed.1003735","article-title":"Accuracy of novel antigen rapid diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2: A living systematic review and meta-analysis.","volume":"18","author":"LE Br\u00fcmmer","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLOS Med."},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0278653.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100013","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcvp.2021.100013","article-title":"Field performance evaluation of the PanBio rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen assay in an epidemic driven by the B.1.351 variant in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.","volume":"1","author":"OL Akingba","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Clin Virol Plus. Juni"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref007","first-page":"282","article-title":"Field evaluation of the performance of a SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid diagnostic test in Uganda using nasopharyngeal samples","volume":"104","author":"A Nalumansi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Infect Dis IJID Off Publ Int Soc Infect Dis. M\u00e4rz"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0278653.ref008","article-title":"Rapid, point\u2010of\u2010care antigen tests for diagnosis of SARS\u2010CoV\u20102 infection.","author":"J Dinnes","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0278653.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"672","DOI":"10.1001\/jamaoto.2021.0715","article-title":"Complications of COVID-19 Nasopharyngeal Swab Test.","volume":"147","author":"A Koskinen","year":"2021","journal-title":"JAMA Otolaryngol Neck Surg."},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0278653.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1233","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(21)00146-8","article-title":"Diagnostic performance of different sampling approaches for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"21","author":"NNY Tsang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Lancet Infect Dis"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref011","first-page":"2021","article-title":"Head-to-head comparison of SARS-CoV-2 antigen-detecting rapid test with professional-collected nasal versus nasopharyngeal swab","volume":"1","author":"AK Lindner","journal-title":"Eur Respir J January"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0278653.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"181","DOI":"10.1007\/s00430-021-00710-9","article-title":"Head-to-head performance comparison of self-collected nasal versus professional-collected nasopharyngeal swab for a WHO-listed SARS-CoV-2 antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic test","volume":"210","author":"JAF Klein","year":"2021","journal-title":"Med Microbiol Immunol (Berl)"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref013","volume":"25","year":"2022","journal-title":"STARD 2015: An Updated List of Essential Items for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies, accessed"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref014","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2021","journal-title":"WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. Accessed"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref015","first-page":"2021","article-title":"Standard Q COVID-19 Ag (instructions).","volume":"7","author":"SD Biosensor","journal-title":"Accessed on"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref016","article-title":"SD Biosensor, manufacturer\u2019s website, accessed on","volume":"26","author":"SD Biosensor","year":"2021"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref017","first-page":"382","article-title":"How to Obtain a Nasopharyngeal Swab Specimen","volume":"28","author":"FM Marty","year":"2020","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0278653.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1089","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(21)00132-8","article-title":"Performance and operational feasibility of antigen and antibody rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19 in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients in Cameroon: a clinical, prospective, diagnostic accuracy study","volume":"21","author":"Y Boum","year":"2021","journal-title":"Lancet Infect Dis"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0278653.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1446","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jiph.2021.06.002","article-title":"Diagnostic performance of rapid antigen test for COVID-19 and the effect of viral load, sampling time, subject\u2019s clinical and laboratory parameters on test accuracy.","volume":"14","author":"RM Amer","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Infect Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref020","first-page":"282","article-title":"Field evaluation of the performance of a SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid diagnostic test in Uganda using nasopharyngeal samples","volume":"104","author":"A Nalumansi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Infect Dis IJID Off Publ Int Soc Infect Dis"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0278653.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0269329","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0269329","article-title":"Laboratory and field evaluation of the STANDARD Q and Panbio\u2122 SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid test in Namibia using nasopharyngeal samples","volume":"17","author":"I Konstantinus","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS ONE"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0278653.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0000040","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pgph.0000040","article-title":"Field evaluation of specificity and sensitivity of a standard SARS-CoV-2 antigen rapid diagnostic test: A prospective study at a teaching hospital","volume":"1","author":"A Abdul-Mumin","year":"2021","journal-title":"Northern Ghana. PLOS Glob Public Health"},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103455","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ebiom.2021.103455","article-title":"Clinical performance evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen testing in point of care usage in comparison to RT-qPCR.","volume":"69","author":"I Wagenh\u00e4user","year":"2021","journal-title":"EBioMedicine. Juli"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0278653.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e3001333","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pbio.3001333","article-title":"Viral dynamics of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and applications to diagnostic and public health strategies","volume":"19","author":"SM Kissler","year":"2021","journal-title":"PLoS Biol. Juli"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0278653.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"14903","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-94547-0","article-title":"Impact of repeated nasal sampling on detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2.","volume":"11","author":"JM Levy","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sci Rep."},{"key":"pone.0278653.ref026","first-page":"2020","article-title":"Brief validation of the novel GeneXpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 PCR assay.","volume":"284","author":"D Goldenberger","journal-title":"J Viro Met"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0278653","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]],"date-time":"2023-03-02T13:35:05Z","timestamp":1677764105000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0278653"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Wen-Jun","family":"Tu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0278653","relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1101\/2021.12.29.21268505","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,2]]}}}