Laboratory management for SARS-CoV-2 detection: a user-friendly combination of the heat treatment approach and rt-Real-time PCR testing

Fabiola Mancini; Fabrizio Barbanti; Maria Scaturro; Giulia Errico; Angelo Iacobino; Antonino Bella; Flavia Riccardo; Giulia Marsili; Paola Stefanelli; Patrizio Pezzotti; Giovanni Rezza; Alessandra Ciervo; on behalf ISS COVID-19 study group

doi:10.1080/22221751.2020.1775500

Laboratory management for SARS-CoV-2 detection: a user-friendly combination of the heat treatment approach and rt-Real-time PCR testing

Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020 Dec;9(1):1393-1396. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2020.1775500.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
² European Public Health Microbiology Training Program (EUPHEM), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

The RNA purification is the gold standard for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in swab samples, but it is dependent on the availability of chemical reagents. In this study, we evaluated the heat treatment method without RNA extraction as a reliable option to nucleic acid purification.

Keywords: COVID 19; SARS-CoV-2; heat treatment; molecular methods; nasopharyngeal samples; rt-Real time PCR.

Publication types

Evaluation Study
Letter

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus / genetics*
Betacoronavirus / isolation & purification
COVID-19
Clinical Laboratory Techniques / methods*
Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis*
Coronavirus Infections / virology
Hot Temperature
Humans
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis*
Pneumonia, Viral / virology
RNA, Viral / chemistry
RNA, Viral / genetics
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
SARS-CoV-2
Specimen Handling
Viral Proteins / genetics

Substances

RNA, Viral
Viral Proteins