Impact of Pool Testing in Detection of Asymptomatic Patients with COVID-19

During the current pandemic, COVID-19 has been detected in patients using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that confirms the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The demand for increased testing, particularly for asymptomatic individuals required alternative approaches to single-patient RT-PCR testing, such as pooling.

This study explored the impact of dilution on the detectability of SARS-CoV-2 in asymptomatic patients using RT-PCR and demonstrated that pooling can be effective in low prevalence populations.

The RT-PCR results for the 3:1, 5:1, and 7:1 aliquot samples showed little differences in CT values, confirming detection capability at these dilutions.

Based on the results of the present study, a pooled approach with up to 5:1 sample aliquots and using the current RT-PCR methodology likely will detect SARS CoV2 RNA among asymptomatic patients.