Impact of Nasopharyngeal Specimen Quality on SARS-CoV-2 Test Sensitivity.
medRxiv
; 2020 Dec 11.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33330893
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The SARS-CoV-2 reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) cycle of threshold (Ct) has been used to estimate quantitative viral load, with the goal of targeting isolation precautions for individuals with COVID-19 and guiding public health interventions. However, variability in specimen quality can alter the Ct values obtained from SARS-CoV-2 clinical assays. We sought to define how variable nasopharyngeal (NP) swab quality impacts clinical SARS-CoV-2 test sensitivity.METHODS:
We performed amplification of a human gene target (ß-actin) in parallel with a clinical RT-PCR targeting the SARS-CoV-2 ORF1ab gene for 1311 NP specimens collected from patients with clinical concern for COVID-19. We evaluated the relationship between NP specimen quality, characterized by high Ct values for the human gene target ß-actin Ct, and the probability of SARS-CoV-2 detection via logistic regression, as well as the linear relationship between SARS-CoV-2 and ß-actin Ct.RESULTS:
Low quality NP swabs are less likely to detect SARS-CoV-2 (odds ratio 0.654, 95%CI 0.523 to 0.802). We observed a positive linear relationship between SARS-CoV-2 and ß-actin Ct values (slope 0.169, 95%CI 0.092 to 0.247). COVID-19 disease severity was not associated with ß-actin Ct values.CONCLUSIONS:
Variability in NP specimen quality accounts for significant differences in the sensitivity of clinical SARS-CoV-2 assays. If unrecognized, low quality NP specimens, which are characterized by a low level of amplifiable human DNA target, may limit the application of SARS-CoV-2 Ct values to direct infection control and public health interventions.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
MedRxiv
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article