Rapid Diagnostic Testing for SARS-CoV-2 by P.K. Drain
A 38-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes has a telemedicine visit after learning that a person with whom she had close contact at an indoor wedding 3 days earlier has tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The woman reports that she is asymptomatic and received a second vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 approximately 9 months ago but has not received a booster vaccination. She attended the wedding with her husband, who has also received two vaccinations, and her two unvaccinated children, who are 5 and 8 years of age. Her husband had mild nasal congestion and a cough the evening before her appointment. She had previously purchased rapid diagnostic tests that received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for home-based SARS-CoV-2 testing and wonders whether using these tests would be appropriate. What would you advise? Full-text recordings of Clinical Practice articles may be found at NEJM.org.
