Abstract:
The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‑19) pandemic has forced the scientific community to rapidly develop highly reliable diagnostic methods in order to effectively and accurately diagnose this pathology, thus limiting the spread of infection. Although the structural and molecular characteristics of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) were initially unknown, various diagnostic strategies useful for making a correct diagnosis of COVID‑19 have been rapidly developed by private research laboratories and biomedical companies. At present, rapid antigen or antibody tests, immunoenzymatic serological tests and molecular tests based on RT‑PCR are the most widely used and validated techniques worldwide. Apart from these conventional methods, other techniques, including isothermal nucleic acid amplification techniques, clusters of regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas (CRISPR/Cas)‑based approaches or digital PCR methods are currently used in research contexts or are awaiting approval for diagnostic use by competent authorities. In order to provide guidance for the correct use of COVID‑19 diagnostic tests, the present review describes the diagnostic strategies available which may be used for the diagnosis of COVID‑19 infection in both clinical and research settings. In particular, the technical and instrumental characteristics of the diagnostic methods used are described herein. In addition, updated and detailed information about the type of sample, the modality and the timing of use of specific tests are also discussed.
摘要:
2019年冠状病毒病(COVID-19)大流行迫使科学界迅速开发高度可靠的诊断方法,以有效和准确地诊断这种病理,从而限制了感染的传播。尽管严重急性呼吸道综合症冠状病毒2(SARS-CoV-2)的结构和分子特征最初尚不清楚,私人研究实验室和生物医学公司迅速开发了各种有助于正确诊断COVID-19的诊断策略。目前,快速抗原或抗体测试,基于RT-PCR的免疫酶血清学检测和分子检测是全球最广泛使用和验证的技术。除了这些传统的方法,其他技术,包括等温核酸扩增技术,基于规则间隔短回文重复序列/Cas(CRISPR/Cas)的方法或数字PCR方法的簇目前用于研究环境,或正在等待主管当局批准用于诊断.为了为正确使用COVID-19诊断测试提供指导,本综述描述了可用于临床和研究环境中COVID-19感染诊断的现有诊断策略.特别是,本文描述了所使用的诊断方法的技术和仪器特征。此外,关于样品类型的更新和详细信息,还讨论了使用特定测试的方式和时间。