Covid 19 in Temara-Skhirat: Prevalence in symptomatic young adults using the PANBIOS® rapid antigenic test september 2021

Abstract

Background: Rapid antigen tests have emerged to deal with the Covid 19 pandemic. Rapid diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection is essential to reduce the spread of the disease. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of COVID-19 infection in Temara-Skhirat in symptomatic young adults through PANBIOS® test Methods: A prospective observational prevalence was conducted at the center in September 2021. Two investigators participated in data collection which included all symptomatic young adult patients. The diagnostic performance of the PANBIOS® and the PCR was carried out with the JAMOVI to calculate the sensitivity and the specificity. Results: Among 206 symptomatic participants, the mean age was 38 ± 12 years and majority were women 59%. 80% of the population had benefited from the anti-covid vaccine. The median duration of symptoms was 4 days; the most common symptoms were respectively fatigue 62%, headache 52%, fever 48%, cough 34%, loss of smell 25%, loss of taste 24%, sore throat 22%. Results revealed 23% of positive covid tests carried out with the PANBIOS® test vs 30% with the PCR test. The calculated medical decision between PCR vs PANBIOS® test showed a very high specificity of 95.7% and a sensitivity of 69.4%. There was a concordance between the PANBIOS® test and the PCR. Conclusion: The sensitivity and specificity of the PANBIOS® vs PCR test are similar to those described in WHO recommendations. It is a Useful test for controlling the spread of Covid 19 allowing identification of active infection and isolation of positive patient