Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35687578›Full record

ArticlePloS one2022

Performance of the TaqMan COVID-19 Pooling Kit for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic and symptomatic populations.

Troy Ganz, Sarah Sanderson, Connor Baush, Melanie Mejia, Manoj Gandhi, Jared Auclair

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Troy GanzLife Sciences Testing Center, Northeastern University, Burlington, MA, United States of America.
Sarah SandersonLife Sciences Testing Center, Northeastern University, Burlington, MA, United States of America.
Connor BaushLife Sciences Testing Center, Northeastern University, Burlington, MA, United States of America.
Melanie MejiaLife Sciences Testing Center, Northeastern University, Burlington, MA, United States of America.
Manoj GandhiThermo Fisher Scientific, South San Francisco, CA, United States of America.
Jared AuclairLife Sciences Testing Center, Northeastern University, Burlington, MA, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-3094-1544

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Clinical evidence for asymptomatic cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has reinforced the significance of effective surveillance testing programs. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assays are considered the 'gold standard' for detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA. However, the labor and resource requirements can be prohibitive with respect to large testing volumes associated with the pandemic. Pooled testing algorithms may serve to increase testing capacity with more efficient resource utilization. Due to the lack of carefully curated cohorts, there is limited evidence for the applicability of RT-PCR pooling in asymptomatic COVID-19 cases. In this study, we compared the analytical sensitivity of the TaqMan™ SARS-CoV-2 Pooling Assay to detect one positive sample in a pool of five anterior nares swabs in symptomatic and asymptomatic cohorts at an institute of higher education. Positive pools were deconvoluted and each individual sample was retested using the TaqPath™ COVID-19 Combo Kit. Both assays target the open reading frame (ORF) 1ab, nucleocapsid (N), and spike (S) gene of the strain that originated in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Qualitative results demonstrated absolute agreement between pooled and deconvoluted samples in both cohorts. Independent t-test performed on Ct shifts supported an insignificant difference between cohorts with p-values of 0.306 (Orf1ab), 0.147 (N), and 0.052 (S). All negative pools were correctly reported as negative. Pooled PCR testing up to five samples is a valid method for surveillance testing of students and staff in a university setting, especially when the prevalence is expected to be low.

Indexed as

COVID-19SARS-CoV-2Clinical Laboratory TechniquesCOVID-19 TestingHumansPandemicsSensitivity and Specificity

Identifiers

PMID35687578
PMCPMC9187085

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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.