Abstract

A reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is regarded as the most sensitive method available and is being used for screening procedure for all incoming passengers to Northern Cyprus for SARS-CoV-2. This study investigated the compatibility of two different RT-qPCR methodologies Diagnovital® and Bio-Speedy® by re-analyzing the previously confirmed positive samples. A total of 43 previously confirmed positive samples were re-analyzed by two different commercially available SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR kits. Only 23.5% of positive samples detected by Diagnovital® RT-qPCR kit were detected by Bio-Speedy® detection kit.

In conclusion, adoption of Diagnovital® RT-qPCR kit detecting two regions of SARS-CoV-2 genome in our laboratories enabled the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic cases with higher sensitivity and contributed to the prevention of viral transmission within the country. The timely detection of infection in asymptomatic individuals may be the key to a successful fight against the COVID- 19 pandemic.

Details

Title
Comparison of RT-qPCR results of different gene targets for SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic individuals during COVID-19 pandemic
Author
Tuncel, Gulten 1 ; Ergoren, Mahmut Cerkez 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Baddal, Buket 3 ; Pinar Tulay 2 ; Arikan, Ayse 3 ; Guler, Emrah 4 ; Cenk Serhan Ozverel 5 ; H Kaya Suer 6 ; Sayan, Murat 7 ; Sanlidag, Tamer 1 

1  DESAM Institute, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus 
2  DESAM Institute, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus; Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus 
3  DESAM Institute, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus; Department of Clinical Microbiology and Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus 
4  DESAM Institute, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus; Faculty of Health Sciences, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus 
5  DESAM Institute, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus; Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus 
6  Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus 
7  DESAM Institute, Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus; PCR Unit, Educational and Research Hospital of Kocaeli University, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Turkey 
Pages
26-31
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
De Gruyter Poland
e-ISSN
2564615X
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2478/ebtj-2021-0018
ProQuest document ID
3156189940
Copyright
© 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.