Performing under Pressure: Insights into the Diagnostic Testing Burden at a UK National Health Service Clinical Virology Laboratory during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.

UK National Health Service (NHS) Clinical Virology Departments provide a repertoire of tests on clinical samples to detect the presence of viral genomic material or host immune responses to viral infection. In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged which quickly developed into a global pandemic; NHS laboratories responded rapidly to upscale their testing capabilities. To date, there is little information on the impact of increased SARS-CoV-2 screening on non-SARS-CoV-2 testing within NHS laboratories. This report details the virology test requests received by the Leicester-based NHS Virology laboratory from January 2018 to May 2022. Data show that in spite of a dramatic increase in screening, along with multiple logistic and staffing issues, the Leicester Virology Department was mostly able to maintain the same level of service for non-respiratory virus testing while meeting the new increase in SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Retrospective SARS-CoV-2 IgG screening during the first wave (March-June 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

During the "first wave" of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United Kingdom (March-June 2020), the city of Leicester was particularly hard hit, resulting in reimposed lockdown measures. Although initial polymerase chain reaction testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was attempted within the community, testing was soon abandoned due to an inability to keep up with demand by local laboratories. It is therefore feasible that undiagnosed transmission of COVID-19 in the community by asymptomatic individuals was a real possibility. Therefore, retrospective SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) testing of archived sera from out-patients visiting University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust service was performed to investigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the community. A total of 1779 sera samples were tested from samples collected between 16th March and 3rd June 2020, of which 202 (11.35%) were SARS-CoV-2 IgG positive. Positivity was lowest in March (2.54%) at the beginning of the pandemic before peaking in April (17.16%) before a decline in May and June (11.16% and 12.68%, respectively). This retrospective screening offers some insight into the early patterns of SARS-CoV-2 transmission within a sampled community population during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic; supporting the argument for more community screening during high incidences of pandemics.

Retrospective serosurveillance for anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin during a time of low prevalence: A cautionary tale.

We performed a retrospective screening of 428 serum samples for anti-SARS-CoV-2  immunoglobulin during a period of low prevalence. Employing two different serological tests yielded discrepant results for 10 samples; highlighting an increased risk of potential  false positive results and the need for further confirmatory testing before publication of data.