Analytical Performance of COVID-19 Detection Methods (RT-PCR): Scientific and Societal Concerns.

ABSTRACT: Background. Health and social management of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, responsible for the COVID-19 disease, requires both screening tools and diagnostic procedures. Reliable screening tests aim at identifying (truely) infectious individuals that can spread the viral infection and therefore are essential for tracing and harnessing the epidemic diffusion. Instead, diagnostic tests should supplement clinical and radiological findings, thus helping in establishing the diagnosis. Several analytical assays, mostly using RT-PCR-based technologies, have become commercially available for healthcare workers and clinical laboratories. However, such tests showed some critical limitations, given that a relevant number of both false-positive and false-negative cases have been so far reported. More

SUBMITTER: Verna R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8305061 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature