Issue |
Int. J. Metrol. Qual. Eng.
Volume 11, 2020
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | 13 | |
Number of page(s) | 16 | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/ijmqe/2020014 | |
Published online | 19 November 2020 |
Review
Reliability of real-time RT-PCR tests to detect SARS-Cov-2: A literature review
1
POLYTECH Angers, LARIS - University of Angers, 62 Avenue Notre Dame du Lac, 49000 Angers, France
2
ANSES-LSV, 7 Rue Jean Dixmeras, 49044 Angers cedex 01, France
* Corresponding author: abderafi.charki@univ-angers.fr
Received:
12
September
2020
Accepted:
23
October
2020
In the face of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries to test the population more widely. Clinical laboratories have been confronted with a huge demand for testing and have had to make urgent preparations for staff training, to establish new analytical processes, reorganize the workspace, and stock up on specific equipment and diagnostic test kits. The reliability of SARS-Cov-2 test results is of critical importance, given the impact it has on patient care and the management of the health crisis. A review of the literature available for the period leading up to and including June 2020 on the reliability of SARS-Cov-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus) detection methods using real-time RT PCR (Reverse Transcription - Polymerase Chain Reaction) brings together the primary factors teams of scientists claim or demonstrate to affect the reliability of results. A description is given of the RT-PCR testing method, followed by a presentation of the characteristics and validation techniques used. A summary of data from the literature on the reliability of tests and commercial kits for SARS-Cov-2 detection, including current uncertainties with regard to the molecular targets selected and genetic diversity of SARS-Cov-2 is provided. The limitations and perspectives are then discussed in detail in the light of the bibliographic data available. Many questions have been asked that still remain unanswered. The lack of knowledge about this novel virus, which appeared at the end of 2019, has a significant impact on the technical capacity to develop reliable, rapid and practical tools for its detection.
Key words: SARS-Cov-2 / RT-PCR / detection / sampling / validation / reliability / performances / kits / molecular targets / limits
© C. Bezier et al., published by EDP Sciences, 2020
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Current usage metrics show cumulative count of Article Views (full-text article views including HTML views, PDF and ePub downloads, according to the available data) and Abstracts Views on Vision4Press platform.
Data correspond to usage on the plateform after 2015. The current usage metrics is available 48-96 hours after online publication and is updated daily on week days.
Initial download of the metrics may take a while.