Rapid antigen test

Rapid tests generally give a result in 5 to 30 minutes, require minimal training or infrastructure, and have significant cost advantages.

For many years, an early and major class of RATs—the rapid strep tests for streptococci—were so often the referent when RATs or RADTs were mentioned that the two latter terms were often loosely treated as synonymous with those.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, awareness of RATs is no longer limited to health professionals and COVID-19 has become the expected referent, so more precise usage is required in other circumstances.

A linear chromatography substrate (a porous piece of material) bears an indicator line, onto which antibodies directed against the target antigen are fixed.

[3] They are successful in these approaches because in addition to the aforementioned benefits, they identify individuals who are the most infectious and could potentially spread the virus to a large number of other people.