Result for
Topic: Testing and Treatment
July 6, 2020
Diagnostic Accuracy of Serological Tests for Covid-19: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
The diagnostic accuracy of serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was reviewed by Lisboa Bastos et al. based on 40 studies and 49 bias assessments. They found a high risk of patient selection bias in 98% (48/49) of assessments and high or unclear risk of bias regarding performance or interpretation of the serological test in 73% (36/49). The pooled sensitivity of ELISAs was 84.3% (95%CI 75.6-90.9%), of lateral…
Treatment with ACE Inhibitors or ARBs and Risk of Severe/Lethal COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis
Flacco et al. conducted a meta-analysis (10 studies including 9,890 subjects) to estimate the association between hypertensive medication and COVID-19 outcomes. Results showed that, compared to untreated subjects, treatment with ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) was not associated with the risk of severe or lethal COVID-19 (OR=0.90, 95%CI 0.65-1.26 for ACE inhibitors; OR=0.92, 95%CI 0.75-1.12 for ARBs). Treatment with both drugs…
July 2, 2020
Mass Screening for SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Residents and Staff in Twenty-Eight Long-Term Care Facilities in Fulton County Georgia
[pre-print, not peer reviewed] A mass screening for SARS-CoV-2 infection in 28 long-term care facilities (5,671 residents and staff) in Fulton County, Georgia, revealed significantly higher prevalence of infection in 15 facilities that screened in response to a known infection compared to 13 facilities that screened as a prevention measure (i.e., no cases had yet been reported by the time of screening) (28.9%…
July 1, 2020
Viral Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Saliva from Infected Patients
Zhu et al. evaluated the clinical performance of saliva specimens in comparison to paired respiratory tract specimens in a cohort of 442 patients with COVID-19 and positive respiratory tract specimens. RT-PCR testing of saliva specimens had a sensitivity of 86% (95%CI 83%, 89%) and specificity of 97% (95%CI 95, 98%). There was no significant difference regarding the temporal viral load profile between mild and severe cases. Zhu et al. (June 23, 2020). Viral…
A Handheld Point-of-Care System for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in under 20 Minutes
[pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A rapid point-of-care diagnostic test (< 20 min) using reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) and semiconductor technology to test extracted RNA samples has 90.6% sensitivity and 100% specificity when compared to RT-qPCR on 183 clinical samples. The portable diagnostic platform is paired with a smartphone for results visualization and geo-localization. Rodriguez-Manzano et al. (June 30, 2020). A Handheld Point-of-Care System for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2…
Heat Inactivation of Serum Interferes with the Immunoanalysis of Antibodies to SARS‐CoV‐2
SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels decreased significantly after heat inactivation of serum at 56 C, which is a proposed method of reducing exposure risk for laboratory personnel. The IgM levels decreased in all 34 serum samples by mean of 54%. IgG levels decreased in 22 of 34 samples (65%) by a mean of 50%. Hu et al….
June 30, 2020
Combination of Antibody Based Rapid Diagnostic Tests Used in an Algorithm May Improve Their Performance in SARS CoV-2 Diagnosis
[pre-print, not peer-reviewed] Kushemererwa et al. evaluated 13 rapid-diagnostic IgG/IgM antibody tests for SARS-CoV-2 to inform the development of a diagnostic algorithm for use in settings where PCR-based diagnostics are not available. PCR–positive samples used for the evaluation were collected 0-28 days after the patient was confirmed positive. They evaluated 78 possible combinations of 2 assays to be used in parallel. The individual sensitivities of…
June 29, 2020
Safety, Tolerability, and Pharmacokinetics of Remdesivir, an Antiviral for Treatment of COVID-19, in Healthy Subjects
Two phase I studies evaluating the safety and pharmacokinetics of single escalating and multiple intravenous (IV) doses of remdesivir in healthy subjects found all adverse events were grade 1 or 2 in severity (mild to moderate, with only minimal, local, or non-invasive treatment needed) and that once daily dosing is appropriate. Humeniuk et al. (June 2020). Safety, Tolerability, and…
June 26, 2020
Clinical And Analytical Performance Of An Automated Serological Test That Identifies S1/S2 Neutralizing IgG In COVID-19 Patients Semiquantitatively.
Bonelli et al. found that the LIAISON SARS-CoV-2 S1/S2 IgG antibody assay, a semi–quantitative antibody test that has a throughput of 170 tests/hour with the first tests available within 35 minutes, has a sensitivity of 85.7% and a specificity of 97%-98.5% for samples collected 15 or more days after diagnosis. Bonelli et al. (June 24, 2020). Clinical And Analytical Performance Of An Automated Serological Test That Identifies S1/S2 Neutralizing IgG In COVID-19 Patients Semiquantitatively….
Large-Scale Implementation of Pooled RNA Extraction and RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 Detection
Ben-Ami et al. found that pooled testing, using a strategy known as Dorfman pooling in batches of 8 samples, retained the sensitivity of individual testing. They then applied this strategy to 26,576 clinical samples, and demonstrated a 7.3–fold increase in throughput. All pools with positive samples were found to be positive, all pools with negative samples were negative,…
Previous page Next page