A reverse-transcription droplet digital PCR assay to detect and quantify SARS-CoV-2 RNA in upper respiratory tract specimens.

ABSTRACT: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Symptoms are variable and range from asymptomatic or mild to severe (i.e., pneumonia) in both healthy and immunocompromised patients. We developed a reverse-transcription droplet digital PCR (RT-ddPCR) assay for quantification of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in clinical nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swab specimens and evaluated the assay, including reproducibility, agreement of results, analytical measurement range, linearity, analytical sensitivity, and analytical specificity. This quantitative assay had a LoD of 218 copies/mL of viral transport media, with a linear quantification range from 500 to 5,000,000 copies/mL (R² of 0.9817 an

SUBMITTER: Milosevic D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9176174 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature