Comparison of the analytical and clinical sensitivities of 34 rapid antigen tests with prevalent SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK

• Published in: Microbiology spectrum p. e0074925
• Main Authors: Byrne, Rachel L., Owen, Rachel S., Aljayyoussi, Ghaith, Greenland-Bews, Caitlin, Kontogianni, Konstantina, Somasundaran, Anushri, Wooding, Dominic, Williams, Christopher T., de Vos, Margaretha, Body, Richard, Adams, Emily R., Escadafal, Camille, Edwards, Thomas, Cubas-Atienzar, Ana I., Buist, Kate, Clerking, Karina, Finch, Lorna, Savage, Helen, Thompson, Caitlin R., Allen, A. Joy, Braybrook, Julian, Buckle, Peter, Dark, Paul, Davis, Kerrie, Gordon, Adam, Lasserson, Dan, Lendrem, Clare, Lewington, Andrew, Logan, Mary, Micocci, Massimo, Nicholson, Brian, Perera-Salazar, Rafael, Prestwich, Graham, Price, D. Ashley, Reynard, Charles, Simpson, John, Tate, Valerie, Turner, Philip, Wilcox, Mark
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Society for Microbiology 13.08.2025
• Subjects: Clinical Microbiology; Research Article; Special Series: Laboratory Equity; COVID-19; limit of detection (LOD); B.1.1.529; Delta; antigen detection; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC), B.1.617.2; rapid diagnostic test (RDT)
• ISSN: 2165-0497; 2165-0497
• DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.00749-25

Antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) came to global prominence during the coronavirus disease pandemic, where they offered a quick and simple at-home diagnostic, which could be used to manage disease spread. A major ongoing challenge for the broad use of Ag-RDTs is the speed at which new SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge, each of which has the potential to reduce the performance of available Ag-RDTs. As Ag-RDTs are explored for use in other viral disease outbreaks, pipelines for the regular evaluation of test performance are essential for ensuring that Ag-RDTs can be employed effectively. Here, we have developed a robust pipeline for the large-scale evaluation of commercially available Ag-RDTs against several major SARS-CoV-2 variants, which can be adapted and applied to other emerging outbreaks to ensure that test performance is maintained as a virus evolves.