COVID-19 rapid antigen test

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2022-01-15 17:00:05

COVID-19 rapid antigen tests, also frequently called COVID-19 lateral flow tests or LFTs, are rapid antigen tests used to detect SARS-COV-2 infection (COVID-19). They are quick to implement with minimal training, and offer significant cost advantages, costing a fraction of other forms of COVID-19 testing and give users a result within 5–30 minutes. Rapid antigen tests are used in several countries as part of mass testing or population-wide screening approaches.[1][2][3] They are thought to be valuable for identifying individuals who are asymptomatic and could potentially spread the virus to other people, who would otherwise not know they were infected.[4] This differs from other forms of COVID-19 testing, such as PCR, that are generally seen to be a useful test for symptomatic individuals, as they have a higher sensitivity and can more accurately identify cases.

Rapid tests for COVID-19 emerged from major investment by the United Kingdom's controversial Moonshot program, a £100 billion program to systematically assess, develop and implement new technologies for COVID-19 testing.[5] Rapid tests initially sat within this systematic evaluation pipeline alongside many other putative COVID-19 testing technologies like Lamp, Lampore, point of care PCR, mass spectrometry and sample pooling. However, as evaluations continued, rapid tests emerged as the most successful form of COVID-19 testing within this program to complement existing PCR testing.[citation needed ]