A Rapid SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Assay for Low Resource Settings.

ABSTRACT: Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay is the gold standard recommended to test for acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, it generally requires expensive equipment such as RNA isolation instruments and real-time PCR thermal cyclers. As a pandemic, COVID-19 has spread indiscriminately, and many low resource settings and developing countries do not have the means for fast and accurate COVID-19 detection to control the outbreak. Additionally, long assay times, in part caused by slow sample preparation steps, have created a large backlog when testing patient samples suspected of COVID-19. With many PCR-based molecular assays including an extraction step, this can take a significant amount of time and labor, especially if the extraction is performed manually

SUBMITTER: Arumugam A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7598596 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature