Progresses in nucleic acid testing for COVID-19

Kangsheng Liu; Zhirong Xu; Xiaodong Mao; Taiping Li; Juan Wen

Progresses in nucleic acid testing for COVID-19

Am J Transl Res. 2020 Oct 15;12(10):6763-6774. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Kangsheng Liu¹, Zhirong Xu², Xiaodong Mao³, Taiping Li⁴, Juan Wen⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Laboratory, Women's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Nanjing 210029, China.
² Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University Suzhou 215006, China.
³ Department of Endocrinology, Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine Nanjing 210028, China.
⁴ Department of Neuro-Psychiatric Institute, Nanjing Medical University Affiliated Brain Hospital Nanjing 210029, China.
⁵ Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Institute, Women's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Nanjing 210004, China.

PMID: 33194071
PMCID: PMC7653635

Abstract

COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) epidemic has rapidly spread since its outbreak. By 24:00, July 19, China had reported 83,682 confirmed infectious cases of COVID-19, including 4,634 deaths. The prevention and control of COVID-19 remains extremely urgent. Owing to its strong infectivity and onset in populations, early detection of infectious cases of COVID-19 is of great significance to control the epidemic. Nevertheless, clinical experiences in nucleic acid testing (NAT) are limited. False negative results of NAT inconsistent with clinical diagnosis are often reported. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the sensitivity and specificity of NAT. This study aims to summarize the current situation and prospect of NAT application based on the lasted findings on COVID-19 infection. Meanwhile, potential methods are proposed to improve the validity of NAT, like improving sample quality. The review may provide references for clinical and experimental explorations on COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; NAT; pathogenesis; quality control; results interpretation.

Publication types

Review