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Safe and effective pool testing for SARS-CoV-2 detection (preprint)
medrxiv; 2021.
Preprint
in English
| medRxiv | ID: ppzbmed-10.1101.2021.04.08.20205781
ABSTRACT
Background / Objectives:
The global spread of SARS-CoV-2 is a serious public health issue. Large-scale surveillance screenings are crucial but can exceed diagnostic test capacities. We set out to optimize test conditions and implemented high throughput pool testing of respiratory swabs into SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics. Studydesign:
In preparation for pool testing, we determined the optimal pooling strategy and pool size. In addition, we measured the impact of vortexing prior to sample processing, compared pipette- and swab-pooling method as well as the sensitivity of three different PCR assays.Results:
Using optimized strategies for pooling, we systematically pooled 55,690 samples in a period of 44 weeks resulting in a reduction of 47,369 PCR reactions. In a low prevalence setting, we defined a preferable pool size of ten in a two-stage hierarchical pool testing strategy. Vortexing of the swabs increased cellular yield by a factor of 2.34, and sampling at or shortly after symptom onset was associated with higher viral loads. By comparing different pooling strategies, pipette-pooling was more efficient compared to swab-pooling.Conclusions:
For implementing pooling strategies into high throughput diagnostics, we recommend to apply a pipette-pooling method, using pool sizes of ten samples, performing sensitivity validation of the PCR assays used, and vortexing swabs prior to analyses. Our data shows, that pool testing for SARS-CoV-2 detection is feasible and highly effective in a low prevalence setting.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Preprints
Database:
medRxiv
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Preprint
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