Is there a role for RDTs as we live with COVID? An assessment of different strategies
Authors: Bonnet Gabrielle , Vassall Anna , Jit Mark 
Published: October 2022

Introduction

By 2022, high levels of past COVID-19 infections, combined with substantial levels of vaccination and the development of Omicron have shifted country strategies toward burden reduction policies. SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RDTs) could contribute to these policies by helping rapidly detect, isolate and/or treat infections in different settings. However, the evidence to inform RDT policy choices in LMICs is limited.

Method

We provide an overview of the potential impact of several RDT use cases (surveillance; testing, tracing and isolation without and with surveillance; hospital-based screening to reduce nosocomial COVID; and testing to enable earlier/expanded treatment) for a range of country settings. We use conceptual models and literature review to identify which use cases are likely to bring benefits and how these may change with outbreak characteristics. Impacts are measured through multiple outcomes related to gaining time, reducing the burden on the health system, and reducing deaths.

Results

In an optimal scenario in terms of resources and capacity and with baseline parameters, we find marginal time gains of at least a week through surveillance and testing tracing and isolation with surveillance, a reduction in peak ICU or ICU admissions by 6% or more (hospital-based screening; testing, tracing and isolation), and reductions in COVID deaths by over 6% (hospital-based screening; test and treat). Time gains may be used to strengthen ICU capacity and/or boost vulnerable individuals, though only a small minority of at-risk individuals could be reached in the time available. The impact of RDTs declines with lower country resources and capacity, more transmissible or immune-escaping variants and reduced test sensitivity.

Conclusion

RDTs alone are unlikely to dramatically reduce the burden of COVID-19 in LMICs, though they may have an important role alongside other interventions such as vaccination, therapeutic drugs, improved healthcare capacity and non-pharmaceutical measures.

KEY MESSAGES

What is already known: Important shifts in the way COVID is addressed, from efforts to reduce COVID transmission toward burden reduction, have led to question the role of testing, in particular SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests (RDTs), both in countries that used them extensively and in those in which RDTs were never scaled-up, but the evidence to inform RDT policy choices in LMICs is particularly limited.

What this study adds: This study provides an overview of multiple RDT use cases and their potential impacts to gain time, reduce health system burdens and reduce deaths. It shows the contrast between high- and low-resource and capacity settings, and how some use cases (surveillance, hospital-based screening, and testing associated with early/expanded treatment) may retain higher benefits, at least with regard to early warning and hospital burden, than the use of RDTs for testing, tracing and isolation.

How this study might affect research, practice or policy: The study highlights that RDTs alone are unlikely to dramatically reduce the burden of COVID-19 in LMICs, and that their role may be best understood as complementary to other interventions.