Safe and effective pool testing for SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Public Health
• Molecular Diagnostics

Background:

• The global spread of SARS-CoV-2 necessitates large-scale surveillance, which can strain testing capacities.
• Efficient diagnostic strategies are crucial for managing public health crises.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize test conditions for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics.
• To implement and evaluate pooled testing of respiratory swabs for SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Main Methods:

• Determined optimal pooling strategy and pool size (pool size of ten in a two-stage hierarchical strategy).
• Compared pipette-pooling and swab-pooling methods, assessing vortexing impact on cellular yield.
• Evaluated sensitivities of three PCR assays at a 1:100 dilution.

Main Results:

• Vortexing swabs increased cellular yield by 2.34x.
• Pipette-pooling was more efficient than swab-pooling.
• PCR assays showed detection rates of 85%, 50%, and 95% at 1:100 dilution.
• Pooled testing of 55,690 samples reduced PCR reactions by 47,369.

Conclusions:

• Recommends pipette-pooling, PCR assay sensitivity validation, and vortexing swabs for high-throughput diagnostics.
• Pooled testing for SARS-CoV-2 detection is feasible and effective in low-prevalence settings.