Archived dengue serum samples produced false-positive results in SARS-CoV-2 lateral flow-based rapid antibody tests

  1. Himadri Nath
  2. Abinash Mallick
  3. Subrata Roy
  4. Soumi Sukla
  5. Keya Basu
  6. Abhishek De
  7. Subhajit Biswas

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Abstract

Co-endemicity of SARS-CoV-2 and dengue virus (DV) infection is becoming a matter of serious concern as it has been already reported that antibodies (Ab) elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection can produce false-positive results in dengue IgG and IgM rapid tests and vice versa . Here we communicate that five of thirteen DV antibody-positive serum samples from Kolkata, archived in 2017 (predating the COVID-19 outbreak), produced false-positive results in SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgM lateral flow-based rapid tests. Our results emphasize the importance of implementing tests with higher specificity to conduct sero-surveillance for accurate estimation of SARS-CoV-2/DV prevalence in regions where both viruses now co-exist.

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  1. Version published to 10.1099/jmm.0.001369 on Access Microbiology
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.07.03.20145797: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    We have performed rapid DV IgG and IgM tests (SD Bioline, Abbott) on archived serum samples from DV-diagnosed patients (NS1 ELISA-positive) from the 2017 Dengue outbreak in Kolkata (pre-dating COVID-19 pandemic).
    Abbott
    suggested: (Abbott, RRID:SCR_010477)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.07.03.20145797: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementEthical approval and informed consent This study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards (at par with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments) of the review boards of all relevant institutions.Randomizationnot detected.Blindingnot detected.Power Analysisnot detected.Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    The aforesaid antibody test results, in fact, confirmed our computational modelling (docking) studies that predicted with high confidence that human antibodies to anti-DV envelope can potentially bind to “receptor-binding motif (RBM)” of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein with some of the interactions even intercepting the ACE2 receptor binding to RBM (4).
    anti-DV
    suggested: None
    C, is a serum sample negative for both Dengue and COVID-19 antibodies.
    COVID-19
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Methods We have performed rapid DV IgG and IgM tests (SD Bioline, Abbott) on archived serum samples from DV-diagnosed patients (NS1 ELISA-positive) from the 2017 Dengue outbreak in Kolkata (pre-dating COVID-19 pandemic).
    Abbott
    suggested: (Abbott, SCR_010477)

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore is not a substitute for expert review. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers) in the manuscript, and detects sentences that appear to be missing RRIDs. SciScore also checks to make sure that rigor criteria are addressed by authors. It does this by detecting sentences that discuss criteria such as blinding or power analysis. SciScore does not guarantee that the rigor criteria that it detects are appropriate for the particular study. Instead it assists authors, editors, and reviewers by drawing attention to sections of the manuscript that contain or should contain various rigor criteria and key resources. For details on the results shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  4. Version published to 10.1101/2020.07.03.20145797v1 on medRxiv