Distribution characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG in false-positive results detected by Chemiluminescent immunoassay

Abstract There have been several false-positive results in the antibody detection of the COVID-19. This study aims to analyze the distribution characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG in false-positive results detected using chemiluminescent immunoassay. The characteristics of the false-positive results in SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG testing were retrospectively analyzed. The dynamic changes in the results of SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies were observed. The false-positive proportion of the single SARS-CoV-2 IgM positive results was 95.88%, which was significantly higher than those of the single SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive results (67.50%) (P < 0.001) and SARS-CoV-2 IgM & IgG positive results (29.55%) (P < 0.001). The S/CO of the SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG in false-positive results ranged from 1.0 to 50.0. The false-positive probability of SARS-CoV-2 IgM in the S/CO range (1.0 ~ 3.0) was 91.73% (77/84), and the probability of false-positive of SARS-CoV-2 IgG in the S/CO range (1.0 ~ 2.0) was 85.71% (24/28). Dynamic monitoring showed that the S/CO values of IgM in false-positive results decreased or remained unchanged, whereas the S/CO values of IgG in false-positive results only decreased. The possibility of false-positive of the single SARS-CoV-2 IgM positive and single SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive results was high. As the value of S/CO decreased, the probability of false-positive consequently increased, especially among the single SARS-CoV-2 IgM positive results.