Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

April 23, 2020

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by direct RT-qPCR on nasopharyngeal specimens without extraction of viral RNA.

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  • In order to circumvent the limited availability of RNA extraction reagents and to reduce the cost and turn-around time of the assay, the authors describe a new protocol for direct RT-qPCR to detect SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swabs. The new approach provides higher analytic sensitivity for detection than many other commercial and laboratory-developed methods, and the rate of RT-qPCR inhibition was similar to the standard approach. 

Hasan et al. (Apr 18, 2020). Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA by direct RT-qPCR on nasopharyngeal specimens without extraction of viral RNA. Pre-print downloaded Apr 23 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.18.20070755