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Volume 27, Number 6—June 2021

Research Letter

Rapid Antigen Test for Postmortem Evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 Carriage

Martin ZachariasComments to Author , Verena Stangl, Andrea Thüringer, Martina Loibner, Philipp Wurm, Stella Wolfgruber, Kurt Zatloukal, Karl Kashofer, and Gregor Gorkiewicz
Author affiliation: Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

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Table

Patient characteristics and postmortem data for investigation of rapid antigen test for postmortem evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 carriage, Graz, Austria*

Characteristic RAT cohort, n = 30 Culture cohort, n = 11
Age, y, median (range)
 78 (62–93)
 79 (65–93)
Sex, no. (%)
M 14 (47.7) 6 (56)
F
 16 (53.3)
 5 (45.4)
Disease duration,† d, median (range) 12 (1–43) 9 (3–34)
Postmortem interval‡, h, median (range)
 22 (8–124)
 25 (14–68)
qRT-PCR positive, no. (%)
 24 (80)
 11 (100)
Ct value, median (range)
E gene 22.8 (14.1–37.3) 19.9 (13.7–36.0)
N gene
 26.9 (18.0–34.6)
 24.6 (17.3–33.7)
Cultivation positive, no. (%)
 NA
 7 (63.6)
RAT positive, no. (%)
 17 (56.7%)
 NA
Total RAT specificity (95% CI§), n = 30
 100% (61%–100%)
 NA
RAT sensitivity (95% CI§), n = 30 70.8% (50.8%–85.1%) NA
Total, n = 30
Ct <35,¶ n = 23 73.9% (53.5%–87.5%) NA
Ct <30,¶ n = 18 94.4% (74.2%–99.7%) NA
Ct <25,¶ n = 16 100% (80.6%–100%) NA

*Ct, cycle threshold; E, envelope; N, nucleocapsid; NA, not applicable; qRT-PCR, quantitative reverse transcription PCR: RAT, rapid antigen test; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
†Interval from first positive (antemortem) SARS-CoV-2 PCR to death.
‡Interval from death to specimen sampling.
§Determined via the hybrid Wilson/Brown method (10).
¶Determined via E gene qRT-PCR.

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References
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