ABBOTT test28 Aug 2020 09:23
The Abbott rapid test is much-needed by the US step and will reduce the spread of CV19
It has limitations:
1. Can only be ordered by a physician, only be used in a clinical setting and by a clinician at that, limiting its ease of use
2. Test is by nasopharyngeal swab- if you've had a CV19 test in the UK, you know it's not pleasant
3. No over-the-counter/ home-use approval -again major limitation
4. S/s values are in thev. good range, as you'd expect for symptomatic individuals
5. No data published for asymptomatic cases- I would expect this to be lower for most rapid antigen-based tests, however good. In actual fact, even if the sensitivity data for this test was 80% for asymptomatic, would still be good. The fact they haven't published this data is a major red flag.
Having said that all their tests until at least December are for the US, who will almost certainly still require further testing capacity. A way to increase detection in asymptomatic would be to run two different inexpesive rapid tests in parallel, so we could also be of use in this scenario