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Volume 27, Number 11—November 2021
Dispatch

Correlation of SARS-CoV-2 Subgenomic RNA with Antigen Detection in Nasal Midturbinate Swab Specimens

Katherine Immergluck1, Mark D. Gonzalez, Jennifer K. Frediani, Joshua M. Levy, Janet Figueroa, Anna Wood, Beverly B. Rogers, Jared O’Neal, Roger Elias-Marcellin, Allie Suessmith, Julie Sullivan, Raymond F. Schinazi, Ahmed Babiker, Anne Piantadosi, Miriam B. Vos, Greg S. Martin, Wilbur A. Lam, and Jesse J. WaggonerComments to Author 
Author affiliations: Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA (K. Immergluck, M.D. Gonzalez, J.K. Frediani, J.M. Levy, J. Figueroa, A. Wood, B.B. Rogers, J. O’Neal, R. Elias-Marcellin, A. Suessmith, J. Sullivan, R.F. Schinazi, A. Babiker, A. Piantadosi, M.B. Vos, G.S. Martin, W.A. Lam, J.J. Waggoner); The Atlanta Center for Microsystems-Engineered Point-of-Care Technologies, Atlanta (K. Immergluck, M.D. Gonzalez, J.K. Frediani, J.M. Levy, J. Figueroa, A. Wood, B.B. Rogers, J. O’Neal, A. Suessmith, J. Sullivan, R.F. Schinazi, M.B. Vos, G.S. Martin, W.A. Lam, J.J. Waggoner); Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta (M.D. Gonzalez, M.B. Vos)

Main Article

Table 1

Demographic and clinical variables of study participants who had MT swab specimens in antigen-testing group analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 subgenomic RNA, Atlanta, Georgia, USA*

Variable Overall, n = 15 Antigen positive, n = 8 Antigen negative, n = 7 p value
Mean age, y (SD) 54.35 (14.49) 53.98 (16.12) 54.78 (13.65) 0.921
Female sex
9 (60.00)
5 (62.50)
4 (57.14)
1.000
Mean days after symptom onset (SD)† 4.14 (2.44) 3.88 (2.23) 4.50 (2.88) 0.655
MT swab specimen, rRT-PCR positive
12 (80.0)
8 (100.0)
4 (57.1)
0.077
Race‡
White 2 (14.3) 0 3 (33.3) 0.026
Black/African American 11 (78.6) 8 (100.0) 3 (50.0) NA
Asian 11 (78.6) 8 (100.0) 3 (50.0) NA

*Values are no. (%) unless indicated otherwise. MT, nasal midturbinate; NA, not available; rRT-PCR, real-time reverse transcription PCR; SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. †Day sample was collected. ‡One participant did not identify race; none identified as Hispanic.

Main Article

1Current affiliation: Pomona College, Claremont, California, USA.

Page created: August 18, 2021
Page updated: October 19, 2021
Page reviewed: October 19, 2021
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