Direct comparison of Altona-SARS-CoV-2 dual target RT-qPCR Assay with commercial LAMP Assay using throat washes in health care staff testing

Johannes Wanney; Jessica Lüsebrink; Gina Spölgen; Sabrina Demuth; Verena Schildgen; Oliver Schildgen

doi:10.1016/j.jcvp.2022.100088

Direct comparison of Altona-SARS-CoV-2 dual target RT-qPCR Assay with commercial LAMP Assay using throat washes in health care staff testing

J Clin Virol Plus. 2022 Aug;2(3):100088. doi: 10.1016/j.jcvp.2022.100088. Epub 2022 Jun 2.

Authors

Johannes Wanney¹, Jessica Lüsebrink¹, Gina Spölgen¹, Sabrina Demuth¹, Verena Schildgen¹, Oliver Schildgen¹

Affiliation

¹ Institut für Pathologie, Kliniken der Stadt Köln gGmbH, Klinikum der Privaten Universität Witten/Herdecke, Ostmerheimer Str. 200, Cologne D-51109, Germany.

Abstract

Background: Rapid molecular diagnostics by PCR has a crucial role in handling the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. As diagnoses are time-sensitive and global supply chains are susceptible to various factors alternative detection methods would be an important backup.

Objectives: During the study the performance of a commercially available isothermal LAMP method for SARS-CoV-2 detection was compared to a IVD RT-PCR Assays using throat wash specimens that were routinely taken in our hospital setting.

Study design: Throat wash specimens of hospital staff (n = 174) previously tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 by the Altona Diagnostics RealStar SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR (Altona Diagnostics, Hamburg, Germany) was tested for SARS-CoV-2 also by the SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Colorimetric LAMP Assay (NEB Germany GmbH, Frankfurt a.M., Germany).

Results: The sensitivity of the colorimetric LAMP Assay compared to RT-qPCR was 78.74%, and the specificity was determined to 88.24% with a positive predictive value of 0.986 and a negative predicitve value of 0.882. The positive and negative likelihood ratio for LAMP was 6.693 and 0.241, respectively, while the diagnostic odds ratio was 27.77.

Conclusions: In times of limited PCR test ressources and in settings with limited PCR capacities, the colorimetric LAMP Assay could serve as an alternative, if a calculable loss of sensitivity is acceptable from the Public Health perspective in certain settings.