Analysis of seven SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests in detecting omicron (B.1.1.529) versus delta (B.1.617.2) using cell culture supernatants and clinical specimens.

PURPOSE: Omicron is rapidly spreading as a new SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC). The question whether this new variant has an impact on SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen test (RAT) performance is of utmost importance. To obtain an initial estimate regarding differences of RATs in detecting omicron and delta, seven commonly used SARS-CoV-2 RATs from different manufacturers were analysed using cell culture supernatants and clinical specimens. METHODS: For this purpose, cell culture-expanded omicron and delta preparations were serially diluted in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM) and the Limit of Detection (LoD) for both VOCs was determined. Additionally, clinical specimens stored in viral transport media or saline (n = 51) were investigated to complement in vitro results with cell culture supernatants. Ct values and RNA concentrations were determined via quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). RESULTS: The in vitro determination of the LoD showed no obvious differences in detection of omicron and delta for the RATs examined. The LoD in this study was at a dilution level of 1:1,000 (corresponding to 3.0-5.6 × 106 RNA copies/mL) for tests I-V and at a dilution level of 1:100 (corresponding to 3.7-4.9 × 107 RNA copies/mL) for tests VI and VII. Based on clinical specimens, no obvious differences were observed between RAT positivity rates when comparing omicron to delta in this study setting. Overall positivity rates varied between manufacturers with 30-81% for omicron and 42-71% for delta. Test VII was only conducted in vitro with cell culture supernatants for feasibility reasons. In the range of Ct < 23, positivity rates were 50-100% for omicron and 67-93% for delta. CONCLUSION: In this study, RATs from various manufacturers were investigated, which displayed no obvious differences in terms of analytical LoD in vitro and RAT positivity rates based on clinical samples comparing the VOCs omicron and delta. However, differences between tests produced by various manufacturers were detected. In terms of clinical samples, a focus of this study was on specimens with high virus concentrations. Further systematic, clinical and laboratory studies utilizing large datasets are urgently needed to confirm reliable performance in terms of sensitivity and specificity for all individual RATs and SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Molecular SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in Bavaria shows no Omicron transmission before the end of November 2021.

BACKGROUND: Five SARS-CoV-2 variants are currently considered as variants of concern (VOC). Omicron was declared a VOC at the end of November 2021. Based on different diagnostic methods, the occurrence of Omicron was reported by 52 countries worldwide on December 7 2021. First notified by South Africa with alarming reports on increasing infection rates, this new variant was soon suspected to replace the currently pre-dominating Delta variant leading to further infection waves worldwide. METHODS: Using VOC PCR screening and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis of selected samples, we investigated the circulation of Omicron in the German federal state Bavaria. For this, we analyzed SARS-CoV-2 surveillance data from our laboratory generated from calendar week (CW) 01 to 49/2021. RESULTS: So far, we have detected 69 Omicron cases in our laboratory from CW 47-49/2021 using RT-qPCR followed by melting curve analysis. The first 16 cases were analyzed by NGS and all were confirmed as Omicron. CONCLUSION: Our data strongly support no circulation of the new Omicron variant before CW 47/2021.

Reciprocal circulation pattern of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses during the influenza seasons 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 in the Bavarian Influenza Sentinel (Germany).

The corona virus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began in Wuhan, China, and quickly spread around the world. The pandemic overlapped with two consecutive influenza seasons (2019/2020 and 2020/2021). This provided the opportunity to study community circulation of influenza viruses and severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in outpatients with acute respiratory infections during these two seasons within the Bavarian Influenza Sentinel (BIS) in Bavaria, Germany. From September to March, oropharyngeal swabs collected at BIS were analysed for influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2 by real-time polymerase chain reaction. In BIS 2019/2020, 1376 swabs were tested for influenza viruses. The average positive rate was 37.6%, with a maximum of over 60% (in January). The predominant influenza viruses were Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 (n = 202), Influenza A(H3N2) (n = 144) and Influenza B Victoria lineage (n = 129). In all, 610 of these BIS swabs contained sufficient material to retrospectively test for SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was not detectable in any of these swabs. In BIS 2020/2021, 470 swabs were tested for influenza viruses and 457 for SARS-CoV-2. Only three swabs (0.6%) were positive for Influenza, while SARS-CoV-2 was found in 30 swabs (6.6%). We showed that no circulation of SARS-CoV-2 was detectable in BIS during the 2019/2020 influenza season, while virtually no influenza viruses were found in BIS 2020/2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Virological COVID-19 surveillance in Bavaria, Germany suggests no SARS-CoV-2 spread prior to the first German case in January 2020.

The Bavarian Influenza Sentinel (BIS) monitors the annual influenza season by combining virological and epidemiological data. The 2019/2020 influenza season overlapped with the beginning COVID-19 pandemic thus allowing to investigate whether there was an unnoticed spread of SARS-CoV-2 among outpatients with acute respiratory infections in the community prior to the first COVID-19 cluster in Bavaria. Therefore, we retrospectively analysed oropharyngeal swabs obtained in BIS between calendar week (CW) 39 in 2019 and CW 14 in 2020 for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by RT-PCR. 610 of all 1376 BIS swabs-contained sufficient material to test for SARS-CoV-2, among them 260 oropharyngeal swabs which were collected prior to the first notified German COVID-19 case in CW 04/2020. In none of these swabs SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected suggesting no SARS-CoV-2 spread prior to late January 2020 in Bavaria.

Multicentre comparison of quantitative PCR-based assays to detect SARS-CoV-2, Germany, March 2020.

Containment strategies and clinical management of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients during the current pandemic depend on reliable diagnostic PCR assays for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Here, we compare 11 different RT-PCR test systems used in seven diagnostic laboratories in Germany in March 2020. While most assays performed well, we identified detection problems in a commonly used assay that may have resulted in false-negative test results during the first weeks of the pandemic.

Rapid establishment of laboratory diagnostics for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in Bavaria, Germany, February 2020.

The need for timely establishment of diagnostic assays arose when Germany was confronted with the first travel-associated outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Europe. We describe our laboratory experiences during a large contact tracing investigation, comparing previously published real-time RT-PCR assays in different PCR systems and a commercial kit. We found that assay performance using the same primers and probes with different PCR systems varied and the commercial kit performed well.