ArticleScientific reports2021
Digital droplet PCR accurately quantifies SARS-CoV-2 viral load from crude lysate without nucleic acid purification.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers.
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65 citing papers in PubMed.
- High-dose ivermectin for early treatment of COVID-19 (COVER study): a randomised, double-blind, multicentre, phase II, dose-finding, proof-of-concept clinical trial.International journal of antimicrobial agents · 2022Trial
- Abundance ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Review
- Varicella-Zoster Virus-Specific Cell-Mediated Immune Response Kinetics and Latent Viral Load Depending on Aging.Journal of medical virology · 2025Article
- Droplet Digital PCR or Real-Time PCR as a Method for Quantifying SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Plasma-Is There a Difference?Viruses · 2025Article
- Subgenomic RNA and Limited Cross-Reactive Neutralising Antibodies Point to Potential Improvements in SARS-CoV-2 Clinical Handling.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Absolute quantification of rare gene targets in limited samples using crude lysate and ddPCR.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Clinical evaluation of a multiplex droplet digital PCR for pathogen detection in critically ill COVID-19 patients with bloodstream infections.Infection · 2024Article
- Digital droplet RT-LAMP increases speed of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA detection.Smart medicine · 2024Article
- Evaluations of modes of pooling specimens for COVID-19 screened by quantitative PCR and droplet digital PCR.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Mitochondrial DNA in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid is associated with the prognosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a single cohort study.Respiratory research · 2024Article
- Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of Psoralen-Inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine in Nonhuman Primates.Vaccines · 2024Article
- Sensing Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Using Aptamer-Functionalized Si-Based Electrolyte-Gated Field-Effect Transistor (EGT).Biosensors · 2024Article
- Detection, Quantification, and Elimination of Wolbachia in Bed Bugs.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Analytical and clinical validation of multiplex droplet digital PCR assay for detecting pathogenic fungal infection in lungs.Mycology · 2024Article
- Manually pressurized droplet digital PCR chip for rapid SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics.Biomicrofluidics · 2024Article
- Long COVID: Molecular Mechanisms and Detection Techniques.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Droplet Digital PCR (ddPCR) Does Not Enhance the Sensitivity of Detection of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in Newborn Dried Blood Spots Evaluated in the Context of Newborn Congenital CMV (cCMV) Screening.International journal of neonatal screening · 2023Article
- Cohort profile: evaluation of immune response and household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Costa Rica: the RESPIRA study.BMJ open · 2023Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus motivates diverse diagnostic approaches due to the novel causative pathogen, incompletely understood clinical sequelae, and limited availability of testing resources. Given the variability in viral load across and within patients, absolute viral load quantification directly from crude lysate is important for diagnosis and surveillance. Here, we investigate the use of digital droplet PCR (ddPCR) for SARS-CoV-2 viral load measurement directly from crude lysate without nucleic acid purification. We demonstrate ddPCR accurately quantifies SARS-CoV-2 standards from purified RNA and multiple sample matrices, including commonly utilized universal transport medium (UTM). In addition, we find ddPCR functions robustly at low input viral copy numbers on nasopharyngeal swab specimens stored in UTM without upfront RNA extraction. We also show ddPCR, but not qPCR, from crude lysate shows high concordance with viral load measurements from purified RNA. Our data suggest ddPCR offers advantages to qPCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection with higher sensitivity and robustness when using crude lysate rather than purified RNA as input. More broadly, digital droplet assays provide a potential method for nucleic acid measurement and infectious disease diagnosis with limited sample processing, underscoring the utility of such techniques in laboratory medicine.
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