ArticleTransboundary and emerging diseases2021
Pitfalls in SARS-CoV-2 PCR diagnostics.
Article in Transboundary and emerging diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Do COVID-19 CT features vary between patients from within and outside mainland China? Findings from a meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Real-World Issues and Potential Solutions in Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives from the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research Health Services and International Studies Committee.Biology of blood and marrow transplantation : journal of the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation · 2020Guideline
- COVID-19 survival associates with the immunoglobulin response to the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor binding domain.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2020Trial
- Taking a step back from testing: Preanalytical considerations in molecular infectious disease diagnostics.Clinical biochemistry · 2023Review
- Commercially available SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR diagnostic tests need obligatory internal validation.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Article
- The Role of Surveillance Inspections in Reducing False-Positives of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variants during the COVID-19 Epidemic.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2023Article
- Comparative Analysis ofDiagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Comparison of the performance of two real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR kits for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid: a study based on large real clinical samples.Virology journal · 2022Article
- SARS-CoV-2 RNA Testing Using Different Assays-Impact on Testing Strategies in a Clinical Setting.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- A pandemic guided by the SARS-CoV-2 PCR test: What should the clinician know?South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2022Article
- Sequential development of several RT-qPCR tests using LNA nucleotides and dual probe technology to differentiate SARS-CoV-2 from influenza A and B.Microbial biotechnology · 2022Article
- Ultrasensitive detection and quantification of viral nucleic acids with Raindance droplet digital PCR (ddPCR).Methods (San Diego, Calif.) · 2022Article
- Gene editing and its applications in biomedicine.Science China. Life sciences · 2022Review
- Visual Detection of COVID-19 from Materials Aspect.Advanced fiber materials · 2022Review
- Diagnostic performance of rapid antigen tests (RATs) for SARS-CoV-2 and their efficacy in monitoring the infectiousness of COVID-19 patients.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Saving Resources: SARS-CoV-2 Diagnostics by Real-Time RT-PCR Using Reduced Reaction Volumes.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Clinical validation of automated and rapid mariPOC SARS-CoV-2 antigen test.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- The Epistemology of a Positive SARS-CoV-2 Test.Acta biotheoretica · 2021Article
- Clinical laboratory evaluation of COVID-19.Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
To combat the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of PCR tests are performed worldwide. Any deviation of the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity will reduce the predictive values of the test. Here, we report the occurrence of contaminations of commercial primers/probe sets with the SARS-CoV-2 target sequence of the RT-qPCR as an example for pitfalls during PCR diagnostics affecting diagnostic specificity. In several purchased in-house primers/probe sets, quantification cycle values as low as 17 were measured for negative control samples. However, there were also primers/probe sets that displayed very low-level contaminations, which were detected only during thorough internal validation. Hence, it appears imperative to pre-test each batch of reagents extensively before use in routine diagnosis, to avoid false-positive results and low positive predictive value in low-prevalence situations. As such, contaminations may have happened more widely, and COVID-19 diagnostic results should be re-assessed retrospectively to validate the epidemiological basis for control measures.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.