Faster detection of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases among care home staff in England through the combination of SARS-CoV-2 testing technologies
Authors
Finola Ryan, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Joanna Cole-Hamilton, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Niharika Dandamudi, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Matthias E Futschik, School of Biomedical Sciences
Alexander Needham, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Rida Saquib, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Raghavendran Kulasegaran-Shylini, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Edward Blandford, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Michael Kidd, UKHSA Regional Laboratory, Birmingham, UK.
Éamonn O'Moore, National Health Protection Office, HSE, Dublin, D01 A4A3, Ireland.
Ian Hall, University of Manchester
Malur Sudhanva, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Paul Klapper, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Andrew Dodgson, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Adam Moore, Operational Policy, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.
Madeleine Duke, Operational Policy, UK Health Security Agency, London, UK.
Sarah Tunkel, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Chris Kenny, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK.
Tom Fowler, Public Health and Clinical Oversight (PHCO), Clinical and Public Health Group, UK Health Security Agency, 10 South Colonade, Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU, UK. tom.fowler@nhs.net.
Abstract
To detect SARS-CoV-2 amongst asymptomatic care home staff in England, a dual-technology weekly testing regime was introduced on 23 December 2020. A lateral flow device (LFD) and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) test were taken on the same day (day 0) and a midweek LFD test was taken three to four days later. We evaluated the effectiveness of using dual-technology to detect SARS-CoV-2 between December 2020 to April 2021. Viral concentrations derived from qRT-PCR were used to determine the probable stage of infection and likely level of infectiousness. Day 0 PCR detected 1,493 cases of COVID-19, of which 53% were in the early stages of infection with little to no risk of transmission. Day 0 LFD detected 83% of cases that were highly likely to be infectious. On average, LFD results were received 46.3 h earlier than PCR, enabling removal of likely infectious staff from the workplace quicker than by weekly PCR alone. Demonstrating the rapidity of LFDs to detect highly infectious cases could be combined with the ability of PCR to detect cases in the very early stages of infection. In practice, asymptomatic care home staff were removed from the workplace earlier, breaking potential chains of transmission.
Publication Date
2024-03-29
Publication Title
Scientific Reports
Keywords
Humans, SARS-CoV-2/genetics, COVID-19/diagnosis, COVID-19 Testing, England/epidemiology
Recommended Citation
Ryan, F.,
Cole-Hamilton, J.,
Dandamudi, N.,
Futschik, M.,
Needham, A.,
Saquib, R.,
Kulasegaran-Shylini, R.,
Blandford, E.,
Kidd, M.,
O'Moore, É.,
Hall, I.,
Sudhanva, M.,
Klapper, P.,
Dodgson, A.,
Moore, A.,
Duke, M.,
Tunkel, S.,
Kenny, C.,
&
Fowler, T.
(2024)
'Faster detection of asymptomatic COVID-19 cases among care home staff in England through the combination of SARS-CoV-2 testing technologies',
Scientific Reports, 14(1), pp. 7475-7475.
Available at: 10.1038/s41598-024-57817-1" >https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-57817-1
