TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation and comparison of the sensitivity of three commercial RT-qPCR kits used for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Santiago, Chile
AU - Luraschi, Roberto
AU - Santibáñez, Álvaro
AU - Barrera-Avalos, Carlos
AU - Vallejos-Vidal, Eva
AU - Mateluna-Flores, Carlos
AU - Alarcón, Javiera
AU - Cayunao, Javiera
AU - Mella-Torres, Andrea
AU - Hernández, Felipe
AU - Inostroza-Molina, Ailen
AU - Valdés, Daniel
AU - Imarai, Mónica
AU - Acuña-Castillo, Claudio
AU - Reyes-López, Felipe E.
AU - Sandino, Ana María
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Luraschi, Santibáñez, Barrera-Avalos, Vallejos-Vidal, Mateluna-Flores, Alarcón, Cayunao, Mella-Torres, Hernández, Inostroza-Molina, Valdés, Imarai, Acuña-Castillo, Reyes-López and Sandino.
PY - 2022/11/28
Y1 - 2022/11/28
N2 - Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is still in force, causing global public health challenges and threats. Although vaccination and herd immunity have proven to be the most efficient way to control the pandemic, massive and early testing of patients using the RT-qPCR technique is crucial for constant genomic surveillance. The appearance of variants of SARS-CoV-2 with new mutations can reduce the efficiency of diagnostic detection. In this sense, several commercial RT-qPCR kits have been the target of extensive analysis because low assay performance could lead to false-negative diagnoses. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the performance of three commercial RT-qPCR kits; Thermo Fisher (TaqMan 2019-nCoV Assay Kit v1), BGI and Roche (LightCycler® Multiplex RNA Virus Master) used for the diagnosis of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic in Santiago de Chile. Results: Under our best assay conditions, we found significant differences in Cq amplification values for control and viral probes, against the same nasopharyngeal swab samples (NPSs). In addition, in some cases, the sensitivity of the RT-qPCR kits decreased against viral variants. Conclusion: Our study suggests evaluating the RT-qPCR kits used to detect SARS-CoV-2 because variants such as Omicron, which has several mutations, can compromise their detection and underestimate viral circulation.
AB - Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic is still in force, causing global public health challenges and threats. Although vaccination and herd immunity have proven to be the most efficient way to control the pandemic, massive and early testing of patients using the RT-qPCR technique is crucial for constant genomic surveillance. The appearance of variants of SARS-CoV-2 with new mutations can reduce the efficiency of diagnostic detection. In this sense, several commercial RT-qPCR kits have been the target of extensive analysis because low assay performance could lead to false-negative diagnoses. Methods: In this study, we evaluated the performance of three commercial RT-qPCR kits; Thermo Fisher (TaqMan 2019-nCoV Assay Kit v1), BGI and Roche (LightCycler® Multiplex RNA Virus Master) used for the diagnosis of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic in Santiago de Chile. Results: Under our best assay conditions, we found significant differences in Cq amplification values for control and viral probes, against the same nasopharyngeal swab samples (NPSs). In addition, in some cases, the sensitivity of the RT-qPCR kits decreased against viral variants. Conclusion: Our study suggests evaluating the RT-qPCR kits used to detect SARS-CoV-2 because variants such as Omicron, which has several mutations, can compromise their detection and underestimate viral circulation.
KW - COVID-19
KW - diagnostic sensitivity
KW - genomic surveillance
KW - RT-qPCR
KW - SARS-CoV-2 detection
KW - variants
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143902451&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1010336
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2022.1010336
M3 - Article
C2 - 36518569
AN - SCOPUS:85143902451
SN - 2296-2565
VL - 10
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
JF - Frontiers in Public Health
M1 - 1010336
ER -
