Sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools, Austria, March 2021

Peter Willeit; Benoît Bernar; Christoph Zurl; Mariam Al-Rawi; Andrea Berghold; David Bernhard; Wegene Borena; Christian Doppler; Reinhold Kerbl; Alwin Köhler; Robert Krause; Bernd Lamprecht; Johannes Pröll; Hannes Schmidt; Ivo Steinmetz; Evelyn Stelzl; Heribert Stoiber; Dorothee von Laer; Johannes Zuber; Thomas Müller; Volker Strenger; Michael Wagner

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.34.2100797

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Sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools, Austria, March 2021
Peter Willeit^1,2,* , Benoît Bernar^3,* , Christoph Zurl^4,5,6,* , Mariam Al-Rawi^7,8 , Andrea Berghold⁹ , David Bernhard^10,11 , Wegene Borena¹² , Christian Doppler^10,11 , Reinhold Kerbl¹³ , Alwin Köhler^7,8 , Robert Krause^4,5 , Bernd Lamprecht¹⁴ , Johannes Pröll¹⁰ , Hannes Schmidt^7,15 , Ivo Steinmetz¹⁶ , Evelyn Stelzl¹⁶ , Heribert Stoiber¹² , Dorothee von Laer¹² , Johannes Zuber^7,17 , Thomas Müller³ , Volker Strenger ^18,** , Michael Wagner^7,15,19,**
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Affiliations: ¹ Clinical Epidemiology Team, Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria ² Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom ³ Department of Pediatrics I, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria ⁴ Section of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria ⁵ BioTechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria ⁶ Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Division of General Paediatrics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria ⁷ Vienna Covid-19 Detection Initiative, Vienna, Austria ⁸ Max Perutz Labs, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria ⁹ Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Documentation, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria ¹⁰ Center for Medical Research, Faculty of Medicine, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria ¹¹ Division of Pathophysiology, Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria ¹² Institute of Virology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria ¹³ Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, LKH Hochsteiermark, Leoben, Austria ¹⁴ Department of Pulmonology, Kepler-University-Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria ¹⁵ Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science, Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria ¹⁶ Diagnostic and Research Institute of Hygiene, Microbiology and Environmental Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria ¹⁷ IMP - Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, Austria ¹⁸ Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergology, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria ¹⁹ Center for Microbial Communities, Department of Chemistry and Bioscience, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

* These authors contributed equally as first authors.

** These authors contributed equally as senior authors.
Correspondence:
Volker Strenger
volker.strenger medunigraz.at
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Citation style for this article: Willeit Peter, Bernar Benoît, Zurl Christoph, Al-Rawi Mariam, Berghold Andrea, Bernhard David, Borena Wegene, Doppler Christian, Kerbl Reinhold, Köhler Alwin, Krause Robert, Lamprecht Bernd, Pröll Johannes, Schmidt Hannes, Steinmetz Ivo, Stelzl Evelyn, Stoiber Heribert, von Laer Dorothee, Zuber Johannes, Müller Thomas, Strenger Volker, Wagner Michael. Sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools, Austria, March 2021. Euro Surveill. 2021;26(34):pii=2100797. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.34.2100797 Received: 10 Aug 2021; Accepted: 25 Aug 2021

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Abstract

This study evaluates the performance of the antigen-based anterior nasal screening programme implemented in all Austrian schools to detect SARS-CoV-2 infections. We combined nationwide antigen-based screening data obtained in March 2021 from 5,370 schools (Grade 1–8) with an RT-qPCR-based prospective cohort study comprising a representative sample of 244 schools. Considering a range of assumptions, only a subset of infected individuals are detected with the programme (low to moderate sensitivity) and non-infected individuals mainly tested negative (very high specificity).

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools, Austria, March 2021

Citation style for this article: <a href="/search?value1=Peter+Willeit&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Willeit Peter</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Beno%C3%AEt+Bernar&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Bernar Benoît</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Christoph+Zurl&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Zurl Christoph</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Mariam+Al-Rawi&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Al-Rawi Mariam</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Andrea+Berghold&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Berghold Andrea</a>, <a href="/search?value1=David+Bernhard&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Bernhard David</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Wegene+Borena&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Borena Wegene</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Christian+Doppler&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Doppler Christian</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Reinhold+Kerbl&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Kerbl Reinhold</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Alwin+K%C3%B6hler&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Köhler Alwin</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Robert+Krause&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Krause Robert</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Bernd+Lamprecht&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Lamprecht Bernd</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Johannes+Pr%C3%B6ll&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Pröll Johannes</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Hannes+Schmidt&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Schmidt Hannes</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Ivo+Steinmetz&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Steinmetz Ivo</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Evelyn+Stelzl&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Stelzl Evelyn</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Heribert+Stoiber&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Stoiber Heribert</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Dorothee+von+Laer&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">von Laer Dorothee</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Johannes+Zuber&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Zuber Johannes</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Thomas+M%C3%BCller&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Müller Thomas</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Volker+Strenger&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Strenger Volker</a>, <a href="/search?value1=Michael+Wagner&option1=author&noRedirect=true" class="nonDisambigAuthorLink">Wagner Michael</a>. Sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools, Austria, March 2021. <a href="/content/ecdc">Euro Surveill.</a> 2021;26(34):pii=2100797. <a href="https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.34.2100797" title="doi link" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.34.2100797</a> Received: 10 Aug 2021;   Accepted: 25 Aug 2021

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Sensitivity and specificity of the antigen-based anterior nasal self-testing programme for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in schools, Austria, March 2021

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