COVID‐19 in Morocco's region: Observational study of prevalence in symptomatic adults using the PANBIOS® rapid antigen test September 2021

BACKGROUND: Rapid antigen tests have emerged to deal with the COVID‐19 pandemic. Rapid diagnosis of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is essential to reduce the spread of the disease. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of COVID‐19 infection and test the sensitivity and specificity in Temara‐Skhirat in symptomatic adults through PANBIOS® test. METHODS: A prospective observational study was conducted in mid‐September 2021. Two investigators conducted data collection from symptomatic adult patients. The diagnostic performance of the PANBIOS®, and the PCR was assessed to calculate sensitivity and the specificity. RESULTS: Among 206 symptomatic participants, the mean age was 38 ± 12 years, and the majority were women (59%). In our population, 80% had benefited from the anti‐COVID vaccine. The median duration of symptoms was 4 days; the most common symptoms were fatigue (62%), headache (52%), fever (48%), cough (34%), loss of smell (25%), loss of taste (24%), and sore throat (22%). Results revealed 23% of cases tested positive with PANBIOS® test versus 30% with the PCR test. The calculated medical decision between PCR versus PANBIOS® test showed high specificity of 95.7% and a sensitivity of 69.4%. There was concordance between the PANBIOS® test and the PCR. CONCLUSION: The prevalence tested remain high, and the sensitivity and specificity of the PANBIOS® versus PCR test are similar to other literatures and close to value described in WHO recommendations. PANBIOS® is a useful test for controlling the spread of COVID‐19 allowing identification of active infection.