Journal of clinical virology : the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology
-
As the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic evolves, the development of immunoassays to help determine exposure and potentially predict immunity has become a pressing priority. In this report we present the performance of the EUROIMMUN enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for semi-quantitative detection of IgA and IgG antibodies in serum and plasma samples using recombinant S1 domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein as antigen. Specimens from patients, with and without COVID-19 infection, were tested at the University of Chicago Clinical Microbiology and Immunology Laboratory. ⋯ Of samples collected ≥4 days after positive PCR, 38 of 42 (90.5% agreement, 95% CI: 77.9-96.2) were positive for IgA, and 42 of 42 (100% agreement, 95% CI: 91.6-100) were positive for IgG, respectively. The EUROIMMUN Anti-SARS-CoV-2 ELISA Assay demonstrated good sensitivity for detection of IgA and excellent sensitivity for detection of IgG antibodies from samples collected ≥4 days, after COVID-19 diagnosis by PCR. This assay demonstrated good specificity for IgA and excellent specificity for IgG and demonstrated only borderline cross reaction in 2 of the 28 samples from patients with common human coronaviruses infection, types NL63 and OC43.
-
Comparative Study
Comparison of commercial lateral flow immunoassays and ELISA for SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection.
COVID-19 pandemic has spread worldwide since December 2019. Serological tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing are needed for detection of current or past infections. A wide range of commercial tests is available. However, most of them need to be validated. ⋯ Commercial serological tests are useful for detection of antibodies in patients with COVID-19. ELISA presented better results than LFI. The results allowed to incorporate the most sensitive LFI to the daily workflow, combining with ELISA. Careful validation is encouraged before clinical laboratories start using these tests.
-
The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread worldwide, with especially severe epidemics occurring in cities across China. ⋯ The COVID-19 infection was of clustering onset and can cause severe respiratory disease and even death. The mortality of ICU patients with COVID-19 was considerably high.
-
SARS-CoV-2 infection diagnosis is challenging in patients from 2 to 3 weeks after the onset of symptoms, due to the low positivity rate of the PCR. Serologic tests could be complementary to PCR in these situations. The aim of our study was to analyze the diagnostic performance of one serologic rapid test in COVID-19 patients. ⋯ Our study shows that Alltest lateral flow immunoassay is reliable as a complement of PCR to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection after 14 days from the onset of symptoms and in patients with pneumonia and negative PCR for SARS-CoV-2.
-
The severe shortage of nucleic acid extraction kits during the current COVID-19 pandemic represents a key limiting factor in testing capacity. ⋯ PKH pre-processing resulted in the highest detection rate of SARS-CoV-2 by RT-PCR, and represents an alternative method for nucleic acid extraction when commercial extraction kits are not available.