Preparing for the next pandemic: Lessons from rapid scale-up of SARS-CoV-2 testing in a South African high-throughput automated HIV molecular laboratory.
Int J Infect Dis
; 110: 1-3, 2021 Sep.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1272473
ABSTRACT
Africa's readiness to respond to the SARS-COV-2 pandemic was tested due to reliance on rapid turn-around-time of polymerase chain reaction results for clinical management, isolation and quarantine decisions. The NHLS HIV Molecular Laboratory in Johannesburg, South Africa, is one of the largest automated HIV molecular laboratories worldwide. Despite its extensive molecular capacity and experience in managing high volumes acquired from a large HIV program, significant challenges were encountered during its rapid transition to large scale SARS-CoV-2 testing. We describe the strategies employed to manage these challenges that resulted in a 30% improvement in SARS-CoV-2 test turn-around-time during the first wave peak during which approximately 25000 samples were tested per month, and further improvement during the second wave peak, with 81% within targeted turn-around-time.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
HIV Infections
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
Int J Infect Dis
Journal subject:
Communicable Diseases
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS