Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Beirut Arab University, Beirut 115020, Lebanon.
Department of Molecular Diagnostics, Doctors' Center Laboratories, Beirut 115020, Lebanon.
Med Sci (Basel). 2020 Dec 30;9(1):1. doi: 10.3390/medsci9010001.
A new virus was identified in late December 2019 when China reported the first cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, and a global COVID-19 pandemic followed. The world was not late to respond, with a number of sweeping measures ranging from social distancing protocols, stringent hygienic practices, and nation-wide lockdowns, as well as COVID-19 testing campaigns in an attempt to prevent the transmission of the disease and contain the pandemic. Currently, different types of diagnostic testing have been adopted globally, such as nucleic acid detection tests, immunological tests and imaging approaches; however, real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) remains the "gold standard" for detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Pre-analytical factors, such as specimen selection and collection, are crucial for RT-PCR, and any suboptimal collection may contribute to false-negative results. Herein, we address some of the specimen types that have been used in molecular detection methods for COVID-19. However, the pandemic is still evolving, and information might change as more studies are conducted.
一种新型病毒于 2019 年 12 月底在中国报告首例武汉肺炎病例时被发现，随后全球爆发了 COVID-19 大流行。世界反应迅速，采取了一系列广泛的措施，包括社交距离协议、严格的卫生措施和全国性的封锁，以及开展 COVID-19 检测活动，试图阻止疾病传播和控制大流行。目前，全球已采用了不同类型的诊断检测方法，如核酸检测、免疫检测和影像学方法；然而，实时逆转录-聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）仍然是检测严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）的“金标准”。分析前因素，如标本选择和采集，对 RT-PCR 至关重要，任何采集不当都可能导致假阴性结果。在此，我们将介绍一些已用于 COVID-19 分子检测方法的标本类型。然而，大流行仍在发展，随着更多研究的开展，信息可能会发生变化。
