A Brief Update on Inter-lab Quality Control (ILQC) Activities for COVID-19 Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain...

Inter-lab quality control (ILQC) is vital for ensuring reliable test results, especially when laboratories are using assays authorized for newly emerging pathogens. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, had developed a network of laboratories to assess the quality of real-time reverse transcription (RT) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays used in India to detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In a three-tier ILQC lab structure, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Nagpur, an institute of national importance & a tertiary care hospital, was designated as a state quality control (QC) lab for the region of Maharashtra. ILQC activities were planned biannually. The ICMR had assigned 22 government and 19 private SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing laboratories, under the Department of Microbiology, AIIMS Nagpur. AIIMS Nagpur had conducted four ILQC activities during 2020-2021. The finding of the ILQC assessment (cumulative includes all four ILQC) conducted by AIIMS Nagpur revealed that the results of 77% of laboratories were 100% concordant, the results of 14% of laboratories were 90%, and very few laboratories (i.e. 9%) showed <90% concordant.