The impact of repeated mass antigen testing for COVID-19 on the prevalence of the disease

Kahanec, Martin; Lafférs, Lukáš; Schmidpeter, Bernhard

doi:10.1007/s00148-021-00856-z

Cited by 24 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(14 reference statements)

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“…Finally, while von Bismarck-Osten et al ( 2020 ) and Isphording et al ( 2020 ) analyse data at the county-age group level, we leverage linked individual data on occupation and family linkages to identify teachers and parents, groups that have the highest exposure to in-person schooling. Our findings are also related to the rapidly expanding literature on the effects of other non-pharmaceutical interventions to curb the spread of the virus (Bonacini et al 2021 ; Chen et al 2020 ; Lyu and Wehby 2020 ; Qiu et al 2020 ; Sears et al 2020 ; Kahanec et al 2021 ; Juranek and Zoutman 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Reopening schools in a context of low COVID-19 contagion: consequences for teachers, students and their parents

2022

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Knowing how school reopenings affect the spread of COVID-19 is crucial when balancing children’s right to schooling with contagion management. This paper considers the effects on COVID-19 testing prevalence and the positive test rate of reopening Norwegian schools after a 6-week closure aimed at reducing contagion. We estimate the effects of school reopening on teachers, parents and students using an event study/difference-in-differences design that incorporates comparison groups with minimal exposure to in-person schooling. We find no evidence that COVID-19 incidence increased following reopening among students, parents or teachers pooled across grade levels. We find some suggestive evidence that infection rates among upper secondary school teachers increased; however, the effects are small and transitory. At low levels of contagion, schools can safely be reopened when other social distancing policies remain in place.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Reopening schools in a context of low COVID-19 contagion: consequences for teachers, students and their parents

2022

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“…Along the same lines, the second round of mass testing in Slovakia decreased COVID-19 infections by 30% but the effect disappeared within three weeks after testing [10]. Moreover, hospitalizations plateaued a few weeks after mass testing but then increased [9].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Thus, only a small increase in risk behavior regarding distance and other COVID-19-related precautions can neutralize the effect of mass testing. Preventive misconception combined with false negatives could also be an import factor driving the reversal of positive effects of COVID-19 mass testing in Slovakia [9,10].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The short-term effect of this systematic antigen testing was a reduction in the incidence of the disease by 70% compared to no testing [8], although the effect on hospitalizations was limited [9]. The same approach was repeated two weeks later in regions with high incidence [10]. In contrast to Slovakia, the Danish strategy was based mostly on voluntary testing but included compulsory testing for participation in educational and recreational activity and for admittance to workplaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The number of tests since the outbreak of the pandemic until 1 July 2021 corresponded to an average of 11 tests per citizen; nevertheless, approximately 900,000 thousand persons, comprising 10% of the population above five years of age, had not been tested even once for COVID-19 [11]. Hence, the Danish test strategy was different from the systematic weekly testing suggested at the beginning of the pandemic [1] and from the tests carried out in Slovakia [8][9][10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessment of the National Test Strategy on the Development of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Denmark

2021

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Denmark has pursued a mass testing strategy culminating in the testing of 12.167 individuals per 100,000 inhabitants per day during the spring of 2021. The strategy included free access to COVID-19 testing, and since 2021, compulsory documentation for negative tests or vaccination has been required for access to workplace, educational institutions, restaurants, and many other places. Testing and subsequent isolation if testing was positive were voluntary. The present study provides an analysis of whether testing frequency in Denmark showed any correlation to hospitalizations throughout the relevant stages of the pandemic. Mass testing was found not to correlate significantly with the number of hospitalizations during the pandemic. Interestingly, during the highest level of testing in spring 2021 the fraction of positive tests increased slightly; thus, the Danish mass testing strategy, at its best, failed to reduce the prevalence of COVID-19. Furthermore, the relationship between positives in antigen testing and in rt-PCR testing indicated that many patients were not tested early in their infection when the risk of transmission was at the highest. In conclusion, the Danish mass testing strategy for COVID-19 does not appear to have a detectable correlation to the number of hospitalizations due to COVID-19.

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Effectiveness of rapid antigen testing for screening of asymptomatic individuals to limit the transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2: A rapid review

Walsh

Broderick

Ahern

et al. 2022

Reviews in Medical Virology

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Rapid antigen detection tests (RADTs) offer advantages over gold‐standard reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) tests in that they are cheaper and provide faster results, thus enabling prompt isolation of positive SARS‐CoV‐2 cases and quarantine of close contacts. The aim of this study was to collate and synthesise empirical evidence on the effectiveness of rapid antigen testing for the screening (including serial testing) and surveillance of asymptomatic individuals to limit the transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2. A rapid review was undertaken in MEDLINE (EBSCO), EMBASE (OVID), Cochrane Library, Europe PMC and Google Scholar up until 19 July 2021, supplemented by a grey literature search. Of the identified 1222 records, 19 reports referring to 16 studies were included. Eight included studies examined the effectiveness of RADTs for population‐level screening, four for pre‐event screening and four for serial testing (schools, a prison, a university sports programme and in care homes). Overall, there is uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of rapid antigen testing for the screening of asymptomatic individuals to limit the transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2. This uncertainty is due to the inconsistent results, the relatively low number of studies identified, the predominantly observational and/or uncontrolled nature of the study designs used, and concerns regarding methodological quality. Given this uncertainty, more real‐world research evidence in relevant settings, which is of good quality and timely, as well as economic evaluation, is required to inform public policy on the widespread use of RADTs in asymptomatic individuals.

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The impact of repeated mass antigen testing for COVID-19 on the prevalence of the disease

Cited by 24 publications

References 25 publications

Reopening schools in a context of low COVID-19 contagion: consequences for teachers, students and their parents

Reopening schools in a context of low COVID-19 contagion: consequences for teachers, students and their parents

Assessment of the National Test Strategy on the Development of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Denmark

Effectiveness of rapid antigen testing for screening of asymptomatic individuals to limit the transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2: A rapid review

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