Comparison of Rapid Antigen Test and Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase PCR for Diagnosing Novel Swine Influenza A (H1N1)

Abstract

id antigen test and rRT-PCR. A total of 124 (10.1%) patients showed a discrepancy between the two tests. Among them, 116 (9.4%) were only positive for rRT-PCR and 8 (0.7%) were only positive for the rapid antigen test. The latter 8 patients all showed negative H1/M2 results in rRT-PCR. There were significant differences in detection rates of the rapid antigen test between different H1 Ct (threshold cycle) interval groups and for different age groups (P ＜0.05). Conclusion: Although the rapid antigen test is easy to perform and provides fast results, its limits as a screening test for detection of novel swine influenza (H1N1) due to its low sensitivity compared to rRTPCR need to be considered in practical situations. (Korean J Clin Microbiol 2010;13:109-113)