Assessing the comparability of cycle threshold values derived from five external quality assessment rounds for omicron nucleic acid testing.
Virol J
; 20(1): 119, 2023 Jun 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-20235393
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
A variety of open-system real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays for several acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 are currently in use. This study aimed to ensure the quality of omicron nucleic acid testing and to assess the comparability of cycle threshold (Ct) values derived from RT-PCR.METHODS:
Five external quality assessment (EQA) rounds using the omicron virus-like particles were organized between February 2022 and June 2022.RESULTS:
A total of 1401 qualitative EQA reports have been collected. The overall positive percentage agreement was 99.72%, the negative percentage agreement was 99.75%, and the percent agreement was 99.73%. This study observed a significant variance in Ct values derived from different test systems. There was a wide heterogeneity in PCR efficiency among different RT-PCR kits and inter-laboratories.CONCLUSION:
There was strong concordance among laboratories performing qualitative omicron nucleic acid testing. Ct values from qualitative RT-PCR tests should not be used for clinical or epidemiological decision-making to avoid the potential for misinterpretation of the results.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Nucleic Acids
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Topics:
Variants
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Virol J
Journal subject:
Virology
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12985-023-02032-z
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