Freedom of Information request about PCR Swab Test Accuracy SARS-CoV-2 Parts 1 & 2 (FOI-21-153)
Published 24 March 2021
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Thank you for your 2 emails of 21 January 2021 entitled ‘Freedom of Information request - PCR Swab Test Accuracy SARS-CoV-2 Part 1’ and ‘Freedom of Information request - PCR Swab Test Accuracy SARS-CoV-2 Part 2 Final’
This reply is for the questions in both emails.
The PCR swab tests being used by NHS laboratories are not 100% accurate in the detection SARs-CoV-2.
Meta-analysis suggests that they are likely to be in the region of 90% sensitive, missing around 1 in 10 positive samples, although this differs from test to test.
However, the overall specificity of the tests is generally very good, close to 100.
See Diagnostic Performance of CT and Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction for Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Meta-Analysis - PubMed (nih.gov)
Kary Mullis was a Nobel prize winning biochemist who invented the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. He did not invent an RT-PCR test for SARs-CoV-2.
Kary Mullis died on 07 August 2019 before the first case of SARs-CoV-2 was identified.
The current generation of RT-PCR tests used in the detection of many diseases and disease states are good demonstrations of the application of the polymerase chain reaction technique.
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