DIRECT RT-qPCR DETECTION OF SARS-CoV-2 RNA FROM PATIENT NASOPHARYNGEAL SWABS WITHOUT AN RNA EXTRACTION STEP.
bioRxiv
; 2020 Apr 06.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32511328
ABSTRACT
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented need for rapid diagnostic testing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend a standard assay that includes an RNA extraction step from a nasopharyngeal (NP) swab followed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) to detect the purified SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The current global shortage of RNA extraction kits has caused a severe bottleneck to COVID-19 testing. We hypothesized that SARS-CoV-2 RNA could be detected from NP samples via a direct RT-qPCR assay that omits the RNA extraction step altogether, and tested this hypothesis on a series of blinded clinical samples. The direct RT-qPCR approach correctly identified 92% of NP samples (n = 155) demonstrated to be positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA by traditional clinical diagnostic RT-qPCR that included an RNA extraction. Thus, direct RT-qPCR could be a front-line approach to identify the substantial majority of COVID-19 patients, reserving a repeat test with RNA extraction for those individuals with high suspicion of infection but an initial negative result. This strategy would drastically ease supply chokepoints of COVID-19 testing and should be applicable throughout the world.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article