Laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19 in China: A  review of challenging cases and analysis.

Laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19 in China: A review of challenging cases and analysis. J Microbiol Immunol Infect. 2020 Oct 17;: Authors: Jing R, Kudinha T, Zhou ML, Xiao M, Wang H, Yang WH, Xu YC, Hsueh PR Abstract Since the initial emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, a rapid spread of the disease occurred around the world, rising to become an international global health concern at pandemic level. In the face of this medical challenge threatening humans, the development of rapid and accurate methods for early screening and diagnosis of COVID-19 became crucial to containing the emerging public health threat, and prevent further spread within the population. Despite the large number of COVID-19 confirmed cases in China, some problematic cases with inconsistent laboratory testing results, were reported. Specifically, a high false-negative rate of 41% on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assays was observed in China. Although serological testing has been applied worldwide as a complementary method to help identify SARS-CoV-2, several limitations on its use have been reported in China. Therefore, the use of both qRT-PCR and serological testing in the diagnosis of COVID-19 in China and elsewhere, presented considerable challenges, but when used in combination, can be valuable tools in t...
Source: Journal of Microbiology, Immunology, and Infection - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: J Microbiol Immunol Infect Source Type: research