Simple Strategy for Rapid and Sensitive Detection of 2019 novel coronavirus Based on Antibody (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Since December 2019, acute respiratory disease due to 2019 novel coronavirus emerged in Wuhan city and rapidly spread throughout China. Real-time RT-PCR is widely deployed in diagnostic virology. However, the positive detection rates of RT-PCR are only 30% to 50%. Therefore, we propose a simple strategy for rapidly and sensitively detecting the IgM/IgG antibody against 2019-nCoV using a colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic strip test.Methods A total of 41 clinically 2019-nCoV suspected cases (23 males and 18 females) were enrolled. The sensitivity of colloidal gold-based immunochromatographic strip test and of RT-PCR were compared and evaluated. McNemar’s test was used to compare the detection rate of both assays (P<0.05).Results: The Antibody was detected in 63.4% (26/41) of blood specimens using the assay. In contrast, the 2019-nCoV was detected in 46.3% (19/41) of nasal and pharyngeal swab specimens using the RT-PCR assays. The detection rate obtained by this assay was markedly higher than that obtained by the RT-PCR assays (P=0.039)Conclusion: This detection assay exhibits a higher detection sensitivity than RT-PCR. More important, the assay shows the benefits of easy operation and setup. We believe that the sensitive and time-saving approach may be used as an auxiliary diagnostic tool for 2019-nCoV detection and virus screening and confirmation.