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. 2021 Oct 11;105(6):1505–1509. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0809

Table 3.

The sensitivity and specificity of the Rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen assay according to different viral loads based on Ct (cycle threshold) values

Rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen assay Real-time RT-PCR
(Ct < 20) (Ct 21–30) (Ct > 30)
Positive Negative Total Positive Negative Total Positive Negative Total
Positive 8 3 11 21 3 24 6 3 9
Negative 0 1,024 1,024 21 1,024 1,045 13 1,024 1,037
Total 8 1,027 1,035 42 1,027 1,069 19 1,027 1,046
Sensitivity (95% CI) 100% (63.06–100.00%) 50.00% (34.19–65.81%) 31.58% (12.58–56.55%)
Specificity (95% CI) 99.71% (99.15–99.94%) 99.71% (99.15–99.94) 99.71% (99.15–99.94)

CI = confidence interval; Ct = cycle threshold; RT-PCR = reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; SARS-CoV-2 = severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.