{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,14]],"date-time":"2024-05-14T00:34:52Z","timestamp":1715646892408},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (WHO\/EMRO)","issue":"4","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["East Mediterr Health J."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,13]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Early and accurate diagnosis is crucial for preventing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The rapid antigen test was developed for testing infection, and it was necessary to assess its performance before widespread use in Tunisia. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a rapid antigen test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swabs in Tunisia. Methods: Nasopharyngeal samples were taken from COVID-19 suspected cases between October and December 2020 and tested using the Standard Q COVID-19 Ag test (SD-Biosensor, Republic of Korea) and real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: Overall, 4539 patients were tested. Of the total study population (N = 4539), 82.5% of positive samples remained positive with the rapid antigen test, while 20.2% (470\/2321) of samples that were negative with rapid antigen test were confirmed positive with RT-PCR, giving a negative predictive value of 79.8% for the rapid antigen test. The sensitivity and negative predictive value of the rapid antigen test were 70.2% and 65.8%, respectively. These results improved to 96.4% and 92.8%, respectively, when considering the cycle threshold value by RT-PCR below 25. Conclusion: Although the rapid antigen test was less sensitive than RT-PCR, its ability to rapidly detect individuals with high viral loads makes it suitable for use during an epidemic.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.26719\/2024.30.4.300","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,13]],"date-time":"2024-05-13T11:46:23Z","timestamp":1715600783000},"page":"300-303","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Reliability of the rapid antigen test for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in Tunisia"],"prefix":"10.26719","volume":"30","author":[{"given":"Amel","family":"Chtourou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Saba","family":"Gargouri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Abdennour","family":"Nasri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Awatef","family":"Taktak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Fahmi","family":"Smaoui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Olfa","family":"Chakroun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Noureddine","family":"Rekik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Adnene","family":"Hammami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lamia","family":"Feki-Berrajah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"H\u00e9la","family":"Karray","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"11263","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,13]]},"container-title":["Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/applications.emro.who.int\/EMHJ\/V30\/04\/1020-3397-2024-3004-300-303-eng.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,13]],"date-time":"2024-05-13T11:46:26Z","timestamp":1715600786000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/applications.emro.who.int\/EMHJ\/V30\/04\/1020-3397-2024-3004-300-303-eng.pdf"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,13]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,13]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,13]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.26719\/2024.30.4.300","relation":{},"ISSN":["1020-3397","1687-1634"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1020-3397","type":"print"},{"value":"1687-1634","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,13]]}}}