SARS-CoV-2 detection by extraction-free qRT-PCR for massive and rapid COVID-19 diagnosis during a pandemic in Armenia.
J Virol Methods
; 295: 114199, 2021 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1253339
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted the healthcare and economy on a global scale. It is widely recognized that mass testing is an efficient way to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection as well as aid in the development of informed policies for disease management. However, the current COVID-19 worldwide infection rates increased the demand for rapid and reliable screening of infection. We compared the performance of qRT-PCR in direct heat-inactivated (H), heat-inactivated and pelleted (HC) samples against RNA in a group of 74 subjects (44 positive and 30 negative). Then we compared the sensitivity of HC in a larger group of 196 COVID-19 positive samples. Our study suggests that HC samples show higher accuracy for SARS-CoV-2 detection PCR assay compared to direct H (89 % vs 83 % of the detection in RNA). The sensitivity of detection using direct samples varied depending on the sample transport and storage media as well as the viral loads (as measured by qRT-PCR Ct levels). Altogether, all the data suggest that purified RNA provides more accurate results, however, direct sample testing with qRT-PCR may help to significantly increase testing capacity. Switching to the direct sample testing is justified if the number of tests is doubled at least.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Mass Screening
/
COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
J Virol Methods
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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