Researchers at Shanghai’s Fudan University claim to have created a method that combines the speed of a fast antigen test with the precision of PCR testing.
In less than four minutes, Chinese scientists claim to have created a COVID-19 test that can process results as accurately as PCR testing.
PCR tests are the most precise on the market, but they must be processed in a lab, which takes at least a few hours. When labs are overburdened by local outbreaks, processing can take days.
Rapid antigen testing that takes 15 minutes is less accurate than PCR-based tests.
Fudan University researchers took nasal samples from 33 COVID-19 patients who tested positive for the virus, 23 patients who tested negative for the virus, six patients who tested positive for influenza, and 25 healthy volunteers. According to a peer-reviewed study published Monday in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, the test accurately processed all cases without error in under four minutes.
Because PCR testing is more sensitive than antigen tests, they are more precise. To show a positive result, antigen tests require a higher concentration of the virus than PCR tests. As a result, antigen tests are more prone to produce false-negative results.
PCR tests look for viral genetic material like nucleic acids and RNA, while antigen testing look for fragments of virus-infected proteins.
