Alshukairi, Abeer N.Al-Omari, AwadAl Hroub, Mohammad K.Al-Tawfiq, Jaffar A.Qutub, MohammedShaikh, SamaherAllali, KhalidSaeedi, Mohammed F.Alosaimi, Roaa S.Alamoudi, ElafHefni, Lama K.El-Saed, AimanAlhamlan, Fatma S.Dada, AshrafWali, Ghassan Y.2023-07-242023-07-242022Alshukairi AN, Al-Omari A, Al Hroub MK, et al. De-isolation of vaccinated COVID-19 health care workers using rapid antigen detection test. J Infect Public Health. 2022;15(8):902-905. doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2022.06.020https://hdl.handle.net/1805/34568Background: COVID-19 de-isolation guidelines of health care workers (HCW) were formulated based on evidence describing the duration of infectious viral shedding of the wild SARS-CoV-2 virus. During the periods of COVID-19 vaccination and variants, a test-based approach was recommended to end isolation of HCW, based on emerging data describing the viral kinetics of COVID-19 variants. While Rapid antigen detection tests (RADT) are increasingly used in the diagnosis of COVID-19, their use is limited in de-isolation. Methods: We described the use of RADT in the de-isolation of COVID-19 vaccinated HCW with mild infection who were asymptomatic on day 7 post diagnosis in a single center retrospective cohort study during the Omicron surge. Results: Of the 480 HCWs, 173 (36%) had positive RADT. The positivity rate of RADT was not different in HCW who received two doses versus three doses of vaccine (34.4% versus 40.3%, p = 0.239). Conclusions: A symptom based, test-based approach using RADT is a useful tool in the de-isolation of HCW, with mild disease, in the era of Omicron. Further studies are required to evaluate the role of RADT in de-isolation of patients with severe COVID-19 disease.en-USAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalRapid Antigen testCOVID-19De-isolationHealth care workersArticle