Do Rats Work on Asymptomatic Populations?

The pivot to RATs, or rapid antiviral therapies, was first tested in the emergency room of a hospital during a time of high SARS CoV-2 transmission. Its effectiveness was further demonstrated in a more controlled setting during a seven-day quarantine. However, the method has several limitations.

Despite its high sensitivity, RATs miss almost half of the cases in which the virus is present. Most of these cases occur during the first week after symptoms, and in cases with higher viral load. This is not sufficient to rule out a case of infection. Therefore, RATs may not be a good choice for screening large numbers of people in emergency departments.

RATs may not be the most effective way to detect HIV, but the results of some studies show that the technique is highly sensitive and specific. Generally, the sensitivity of a rat test depends on the cT values of the samples, which differ between healthy and diseased individuals. However, a rat test may be useful to detect the virus in asymptomatic populations.