ArticlePathology2020
Sample pooling is a viable strategy for SARS-CoV-2 detection in low-prevalence settings.
Article in Pathology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed.
- Performance Evaluation of Nasopharyngeal Swab Pooling to Improve SARS-CoV-2 Testing Capacity via Closed Real-Time RT‒PCR Assays.Infection and drug resistance · 2026Article
- Reagent efficiency and analytical sensitivity optimization for a reliable SARS-CoV-2 pool-based testing strategy.Heliyon · 2025Article
- ExploringFrontiers in public health · 2025Article
- A proactive/reactive mass screening approach with uncertain symptomatic cases.PLoS computational biology · 2024Article
- Clinical performance of AI-integrated risk assessment pooling reveals cost savings even at high prevalence of COVID-19.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The Unspoken Wounds: Understanding the Psychological Impact on Healthcare Professionals Fighting COVID-19 in Pakistan.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2024Article
- Increasing SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity through specimen pooling: An acute care center experience.PloS one · 2023Article
- Surveillance testing using salivary RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 in managed quarantine facilities in Australia: A laboratory validation and implementation study.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2022Article
- High-Throughput COVID-19 Testing of Naso-Oropharyngeal Swabs Using a Sensitive Extraction-Free Sample Preparation Method.Microbiology spectrum · 2022Article
- Factors associated with weak positive SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis by reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR).Pathology · 2022Article
- Rapid SARS-CoV-2 Virus Enrichment and RNA Extraction for Efficient Diagnostic Screening of Pooled Nasopharyngeal or Saliva Samples for Dilutions Up to 1:100.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
- A four specimen-pooling scheme reliably detects SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses using the BioFire FilmArray Respiratory Panel 2.1.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR testing of pooled saliva samples: A case study of 824 asymptomatic individuals and a questionnaire survey in Japan.PloS one · 2022Article
- Clinical evaluation of the Procleix SARS-CoV-2 assay, a sensitive, high-throughput test that runs on an automated system.Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease · 2022Article
- SARS-CoV-2 detection in multi-sample pools in a real pandemic scenario: A screening strategy of choice for active surveillance.PloS one · 2022Article
- Diagnostic yield and costs associated with a routine pre-operative COVID-19 testing algorithm for asymptomatic patients prior to elective surgery.American journal of clinical and experimental urology · 2022Article
- Two-Stage Hierarchical Group Testing Strategy to Increase SARS-CoV-2 Testing Capacity at an Institution of Higher Education: A Retrospective Analysis.The Journal of molecular diagnostics : JMD · 2021Article
- Testing individual and pooled saliva samples for sars-cov-2 nucleic acid: a prospective study.Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease · 2021Article
- Use of emerging testing technologies and approaches for SARS-CoV-2: review of literature and global experience in an Australian context.Pathology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has significantly increased demand on laboratory throughput and reagents for nucleic acid extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Reagent shortages may limit the expansion of testing required to scale back containment measures. The aims of this study were to investigate the viability of sample pooling as a strategy for increasing test throughput and conserving PCR reagents; and to report our early experience with pooling of clinical samples. A pre-implementation study was performed to assess the sensitivity and theoretical efficiency of two, four, and eight-sample pools in a real-time reverse transcription PCR-based workflow. A standard operating procedure was developed and implemented in two laboratories during periods of peak demand, inclusive of over 29,000 clinical samples processed in our laboratory. Sensitivity decreased (mean absolute increase in cycle threshold value of 0.6, 2.3, and 3.0 for pools of two, four, and eight samples, respectively) and efficiency increased as pool size increased. Gains from pooling diminished at high disease prevalence. Our standard operating procedure was successfully implemented across two laboratories. Increased workflow complexity imparts a higher risk of errors, and requires risk mitigation strategies. Turnaround time for individual samples increased, hence urgent samples should not be pooled. Pooling is a viable strategy for high-throughput testing of SARS-CoV-2 in low-prevalence settings.
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