Feasibility, uptake, and results of COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic tests among refugees and migrants in a pilot project in North-West Syria

Feasibility, uptake, and results of COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic tests among refugees and migrants in a pilot project in North-West Syria

North-west Syria (NWS) is a conflict-affected and unstable area. Due to its limited health infrastructure, accessing advanced COVID-19 testing services is challenging. COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) have the potential to overcome this barrier. A pilot project was implemented to in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tropical medicine and infectious disease Vol. 8; no. 5; pp. 1 - 13
Main Authors: Ghawji, Hassan, AlYousfi, Mohamad Nihad, Satyanarayana, Srinath, Wilson, Nevin, Tomeh, Laila, Alkhellov, Hussam, Hasan, Sali, Sarin, Sanjay, Kao, Kekeletso
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel, Switzerland MDPI 16-05-2023
MDPI AG
Subjects:
Ag-RDTs
Analysis
Antigens
Community health aides
Consent
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
COVID-19 (Disease)
COVID-19 diagnostic tests
Diagnosis
Disease transmission
Displaced persons
Health facilities
Hospital care
Humanitarianism
Infrastructure
Medical personnel
Non-governmental organizations
Operations research
Pandemics
PCR
Pilot projects
Population
Prevention
rapid diagnostic tests
Refugees
Syria
Ag-RDTs
COVID-19
rapid diagnostic tests
refugees
PCR
prevention
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Summary:North-west Syria (NWS) is a conflict-affected and unstable area. Due to its limited health infrastructure, accessing advanced COVID-19 testing services is challenging. COVID-19 antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) have the potential to overcome this barrier. A pilot project was implemented to introduce Ag-RDTs in NWS, aiming to determine the feasibility, uptake, and results of Ag-RDTs and identify facilitators and barriers to testing with Ag-RDTs. A cross-sectional study design involving secondary analysis of data collected during the project was employed. A local non-governmental organization implemented 25,000 Ag-RDTs that were conducted cross-border by trained community health workers. In total, 27,888 eligible individuals were enrolled, 24,956 (89.5%) consented to test, and 121 (0.5%) were COVID-19-positive. The highest positivity was observed among those with severe COVID-19 symptoms (12.7%), with respiratory illnesses (2.5%), enrolled at hospitals in Afrin (2.5%), and healthcare workers (1.9%). A non-random sample of 236 individuals underwent confirmatory RT-PCR testing. Observed sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were 80.0%, 96.1%, 91.4%, and 90.3%, respectively. Challenges included obtaining informed consent and conducting confirmatory testing. Ag-RDTs represent a feasible screening/diagnostic tool for COVID-19 infections in NWS, with nearly 90% uptake. Embedding Ag-RDTs into COVID-19 testing and screening strategies would be highly beneficial.
Bibliography:Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, Vol. 8, No. 5, May 2023, 1-13
Informit, Melbourne (Vic)
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:2414-6366
2414-6366
DOI:10.3390/tropicalmed8050281