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The aim of our work was to better understand misclassification errors in identification of true cases of COVID-19 and to study the impact of these errors in epidemic curves. We examined publically available time-series data of laboratory tests for SARS-CoV-2 viral infection, the causal agent for COVID-19, to try to explore, using a Bayesian approach, about the sensitivity and specificity of the PCR-based diagnostic test. Data originated from Alberta, Canada (available on 3/28/2020) and city of Philadelphia, USA (available on 3/31/2020). Our analysis revealed that the data were compatible with near-perfect specificity but it was challenging to gain information about sensitivity (prior and posterior largely overlapped). We applied these insights to uncertainty/bias analysis of epidemic curves into jurisdictions under the assumptions of both improving and degrading sensitivity. If the sensitivity improved from 60 to 95%, the observed and adjusted epidemic curves likely fall within the 95% confidence intervals of the observed counts. However, bias in the shape and peak of the epidemic curves can be pronounced, if sensitivity either degrades or remains poor in the 60–70% range. In the extreme scenario, hundreds of undiagnosed cases, even among tested, are possible, potentially leading to further unchecked contagion should these cases not self-isolate. The best way to better understand bias in the epidemic curves of COVID-19 due to errors in testing is to empirically evaluate misclassification of diagnosis in clinical settings and apply this knowledge to adjustment of epidemic curves, a task for which the Bayesian method we presented is well-suited.
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10.1101/2020.04.08.20057661
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document_parses/pdf_json/e8f6138d9b4a5efa129f1f538f4b2e126d24ac78.json; document_parses/pdf_json/6ef1652c5807d948f5cda6f94084bedede608625.json
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document_parses/pmc_json/PMC7276007.xml.json
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MedRxiv; Medline; PMC; WHO
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Towards reduction in bias in epidemic curves due to outcome misclassification through Bayesian analysis of time-series of laboratory test results: Case study of COVID-19 in Alberta, Canada and Philadelphia, USA
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