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Rapid Molecular Detection and Differentiation of Influenza Viruses A and B
Published on: January 30, 2017
Clinical Performance of the cobas Liat SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B Assay in Nasal Samples
Yusaku Akashi1,2,3, Michiko Horie4, Junichi Kiyotaki5
1Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Tsukuba Medical Center Hospital, 1-3-1 Amakubo Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8558, Japan. yusaku-akashi@umin.ac.jp.
Background And Objective:
Point-of-care type molecular diagnostic tests have been used for detecting SARS-CoV-2, although their clinical utility with nasal samples has yet to be established. This study evaluated the clinical performance of the cobas Liat SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B (Liat) assay in nasal samples.
Methods:
Nasal and nasopharyngeal samples were collected and were tested using the Liat, the cobas 6800 system and the cobas SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B (cobas), and a method developed by National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan (NIID).
Results:
A total of 814 nasal samples were collected. The Liat assay was positive for SARS-CoV-2 in 113 (13.9%). The total, positive, and negative concordance rate between the Liat and cobas/NIID assays were 99.3%/98.4%, 99.1%/100%, and 99.3%/98.2%, respectively. Five samples were positive only using the Liat assay. Their Ct values ranged from 31.9 to 37.2. The Ct values of the Liat assay were significantly lower (p < 0.001) but were correlated (p < 0.001) with those of other molecular assays. In the participants who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on the Liat assay using nasopharyngeal samples, 88.2% of their nasal samples also tested positive using the Liat assay.
Conclusion:
The Liat assay showed high concordance with other molecular assays in nasal samples. Some discordance occurred in samples with Ct values > 30 on the Liat assay.
