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. 2021 Aug;13(15):1213-1223.
doi: 10.4155/bio-2021-0078. Epub 2021 Jul 22.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 at the point of care

Michael J Loeffelholz  1 , Yi-Wei Tang  2
Affiliations

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 at the point of care

Michael J Loeffelholz et al. Bioanalysis. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the etiologic agent of COVID-19. Testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection is a critical element of the public health response to COVID-19. Point-of-care (POC) tests can drive patient management decisions for infectious diseases, including COVID-19. POC tests are available for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infections and include those that detect SARS-CoV-2 antigens as well as amplified RNA sequences. We provide a review of SARS-CoV-2 POC tests including their performance, settings for which they might be used, their impact and future directions. Further optimization and validation, new technologies as well as studies to determine clinical and epidemiological impact of SARS-CoV-2 POC tests are needed.

Keywords: COVID-19; POCT; SARS-CoV-2; home testing; nucleic acid amplification testing; pooled specimen screening; rapid antigen testing.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure

MJ Loeffelholz and Y-W Tang are employees of Cepheid, the commercial manufacturer of the Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 and the Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2/Flu/RSV assays. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

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