October 12, 2020

Sample Pooling Is a Viable Strategy for SARS-CoV-2 Detection in Low-Prevalence Settings

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Testing and Treatment

Keywords (Tags): candidate, report, summarize, testing

• Sample pooling was found to be a practical strategy for SARS-CoV-2 testing in low-prevalence settings. The study assessed the sensitivity and theoretical efficiency of two, four, and eight-sample pools to evaluate throughput and assess the potential to conserve PCR reagents. As pool size increased, sensitivity decreased and efficiency increased. The practicality of pooling samples also diminished in settings with high SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The authors note that such a strategy may be best applied for testing asymptomatic individuals in the general population, who have a low pre-test probability.

Chong et al. (Sept 22, 2020). Sample Pooling Is a Viable Strategy for SARS-CoV-2 Detection in Low-Prevalence Settings. Pathology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pathol.2020.09.005