In the study, researchers looked to see how well two commonly used rapid antigen tests detected infections by three variants: the early - so-called “wild-type”- variants that dominated during the first months of the pandemic the highly transmissible Delta variant that was responsible the surge of cases in mid-2021, and the even more transmissible Omicron variant that is causing most cases seen in the United States today. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, however, mutations have appeared in the virus that have altered these proteins, thereby raising the possibility that the tests might not be as effective in detecting these new variants. Because these tests were developed early in the pandemic, they were optimized to detect proteins from viruses common at that time. Rapid antigen tests work by detecting the presence of viral proteins. ![]() ![]() He is also an associate professor of medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at the UW medical school. Drain, associate professor of global health at the University of Washington medical and public health schools, who led the study. “These tests performed just as well for Delta and Omicron as they did for earlier variants of SARS-CoV-2,” said Dr. The rapid antigen tests used by many Americans for at-home and workplace COVID-19 testing accurately detect the new variants of SARS-CoV-2 now common in the United States, a new study has determined.
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