“Evaluation of a COVID-19 IgM and IgG Rapid Test and Assessment of Specific Antibody Response in COVID-19 patients, Tunisia 2020”

Abstract Background COVID-19 pandemic is a massive global health emergency. Although RT-PCR is the gold standard for diagnosing suspected cases, there is a need of serological tests to investigate antibody responses. Many serologic immunoassays have been developed to detect antibodies to SARS-CoV2, including rapid tests. This study assessed the clinical performance of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody test (colloidal gold immunochromatography, LEPU TECHNOLOGY) and evaluated the kinetic antibody response in COVID-19 patients.Methods: Samples collected by finger stick; obtained from RT-PCR confirmed cases and samples of negative controls were tested with the IgM/IgG Detection Kit . Results: The kit shows a clinical sensitivity of 65.7 % [59.7%-71.3%] and a specificity of 96.3% [93.0%-98.3%]. The predictive positive value and negative predictive value were respectively 95.2% [91.0%-97.8%] and 71.4% [66.1%-76.2%]. The seroconversion of specific IgM and IgG antibodies were observed as early as the 2nd day after symptom onset.Conclusions: This test is quite useful for assessing previous virus exposure, although negative results may be unreliable during the first weeks after infection. Longitudinal studies on antibody responses during and post infection are needed.