Biomedicines

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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and other infections are serious threats to public health and the global economy. The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak as a pandemic in March 2020. According to the WHO, the global cumulative number of novel coronavirus infections exceeds 300 million to date. The rapid identification and isolation of patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 are important for preventing transmission.

Point-of-care testing (POCT) is applicable to a variety of areas of medicine and can make a significant difference in patient care. Lateral flow assays (LFAs) are critical in POCT. An LFA is a simple-to-use piece of diagnostic equipment that is used to confirm the presence or absence of a target analyte, such as SARS-CoV-2 or other infective agents, biomarkers in humans or animals, or pollutants in drinking water, food, or animal feed; however, its clinical utility has been questioned due to its limited sensitivity. Numerous strategies are used to improve sensitivity and quantitative detection, e.g., employing several visualization methods, using different labeling reporters, and integrating LFAs into other detection methods, resulting in their benefiting from both LFAs and the advantages of integrated detection devices for SARS-CoV-2 or other infections. This Special Issue invites submissions of novel and innovative original studies as well as comprehensive reviews on this topic.

Dr. Hideya Kawasaki
Guest Editor

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (1 paper)

Research

13 pages, 4358 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Multiplex Rapid Antigen Tests for the Simultaneous Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A/B Viruses

by Ho-Jae Lim, Ji-Yoon Lee, Young-Hyun Baek, Min-Young Park, Dong-Jae Youm, Inhee Kim, Min-Jin Kim, Jongmun Choi, Yong-Hak Sohn, Jung-Eun Park and Yong-Jin Yang

Biomedicines 2023, 11(12), 3267; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11123267 - 9 Dec 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1953

Abstract

Single-target rapid antigen tests (RATs) are commonly used to detect highly transmissible respiratory viruses (RVs), such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and influenza viruses. The simultaneous detection of RVs presenting overlapping symptoms is vital in making appropriate decisions about treatment, isolation, and resource utilization; however, few studies have evaluated multiplex RATs for SARS-CoV-2 and other RVs. We assessed the diagnostic performance of multiplex RATs targeting both the SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A/B viruses with the GenBody Influenza/COVID-19 Ag Triple, InstaView COVID-19/Flu Ag Combo (InstaView), STANDARD^TM Q COVID-19 Ag Test, and STANDARD^TM Q Influenza A/B Test kits using 974 nasopharyngeal swab samples. The cycle threshold values obtained from the real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction results showed higher sensitivity (72.7–100%) when the values were below, rather than above, the cut-off values. The InstaView kit exhibited significantly higher positivity rates (80.21% for SARS-CoV-2, 61.75% for influenza A, and 46.15% for influenza B) and cut-off values (25.57 for SARS-CoV-2, 21.19 for influenza A, and 22.35 for influenza B) than the other two kits, and was able to detect SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants. Therefore, the InstaView kit is the best choice for routine screening for both SARS-CoV-2 and influenza A/B in local communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue High-Sensitivity Lateral Flow Assays for SARS-CoV-2 and Other Infections Volume II)

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