Influence of Storage Conditions on SARS-CoV-2 Nucleic Acid Detection in Throat Swabs

Lin Li; Xiao Li; Zhendong Guo; Zhongyi Wang; Ke Zhang; Chao Li; Changjun Wang; Shoufeng Zhang

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiaa272

Influence of Storage Conditions on SARS-CoV-2 Nucleic Acid Detection in Throat Swabs

J Infect Dis. 2020 Jun 29;222(2):203-205. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa272.

Authors

Lin Li^{1

2}, Xiao Li^{1

2}, Zhendong Guo^{1

2}, Zhongyi Wang^{1

2}, Ke Zhang^{1

2}, Chao Li³, Changjun Wang^{2

4}, Shoufeng Zhang^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital, Wuhan, China.
³ Institute of Systems Engineering, Academy of Military Sciences, Tianjin, China.
⁴ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the People's Liberation Army, Beijing, China.

Abstract

The detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection is the premise of quarantine. In many countries or areas, samples need to be shipped or inactivated before SARS-CoV-2 testing. In this study, we checked the influence of sample storage conditions on SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing results, including sample inactivation time, storage temperature, and storage time. All of these conditions caused an increase in the cycle threshold values of the nucleic acid tests and led to the misclassification of at least 10.2% of positive cases as negative or suspected. The results highlight the importance of immediate testing of samples for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection.

Keywords: influence; SARS-CoV-2; nucleic acid detection; storage; throat swab.

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus* / genetics
COVID-19
COVID-19 Testing
Clinical Laboratory Techniques*
Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
Cryopreservation
Freezing
Humans
Pandemics
Pharynx / virology*
Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis*
Refrigeration
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
SARS-CoV-2
Specimen Handling / methods*
Temperature
Time Factors
Virus Inactivation