The Appropriate Use of Testing for COVID-19

Many public officials are calling for increased testing for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and some governments have taken extraordinary measures to increase the availability of testing. However, little has been published about the sensitivity and specificity of the reverse transcrip...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tony Zitek
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eScholarship Publishing, University of California 2020-04-01
Series:Western Journal of Emergency Medicine
Online Access:https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1gh0z5t0
Description
Summary:Many public officials are calling for increased testing for the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and some governments have taken extraordinary measures to increase the availability of testing. However, little has been published about the sensitivity and specificity of the reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) nasopharyngeal swabs that are commonly used for testing. This narrative review evaluates the literature regarding the accuracy of these tests, and makes recommendations based on this literature. In brief, a negative RT-PCR nasopharyngeal swab test is insufficient to rule out COVID-19. Thus, over-reliance on the results of the test may be dangerous, and the push for widespread testing may be overstated.
ISSN:1936-9018