Abbott SARS-CoV-2 Test False Negative Rate
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“... as many as 15 to 20 out of every 100 tests may produce falsely negative results. A subsequent study released this week indicated that the test could be missing as many as 48% of infections.
The FDA issued the alert on the Abbott test "in the spirit of transparency," and said in a press release, it's investigating whether the false-negative results could be connected to the type of swab used during the rapid test, or the material the samples are being stored in when they're transported.
It also cautions that "any negative test results that are not consistent with a patient's clinical signs and symptoms or necessary for patient management should be confirmed with another test."
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First thing I would look at us technique. Assuming the test does work at a minimum level, most errors occur in the preanalytical phase.
Second problem is the virus itself. In the case of the doctor from the Today show, he has COVID-19. He has never tested positive, although he has been tested four times, on two different platforms.
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I would think false positives (low specificity) would be a helluva lot more problematic than false negatives.
If you are false positive, you may think you are safer than you are.
article about in the times a few days ago. If you are a false positive when the prevalence of the true infected is low, you are looking at a whole lotta people thinking they are safe. When they ain’t.
