Indian journal of medical microbiology
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Indian J Med Microbiol · Jul 2021
Evaluating the efficiency of specimen (sample) pooling for real-time PCR based diagnosis of COVID-19.
This study is aims at evaluating the efficacy and sensitivity of specimen pooling for testing of SARS-CoV-2 virus to determine the accuracy, resource savings, and identification of borderline positive cases without impacting the accuracy of the testing. ⋯ Pooled sample RT- PCR analysis strategies can save substantial resources and time for COVID-19 mass testing in comparison with individual testing without compromising the quality of outcome of the test. In particular, the pooled sample approach can facilitate mass screening in the early asymptomatic stages of COVID-19 infections.