COVID-19 PCR test performance on samples stored at ambient temperature

Nihat Bugra Agaoglu; Jale Yildiz; Ozlem Akgun Dogan; Betsi Kose; Gizem Alkurt; Yasemin Kendir Demirkol; Arzu Irvem; Levent Doganay; Gizem Dinler Doganay

doi:10.1016/j.jviromet.2021.114404

COVID-19 PCR test performance on samples stored at ambient temperature

Nihat Bugra Agaoglu, Jale Yildiz, Ozlem Akgun Dogan, Betsi Kose, Gizem Alkurt, Yasemin Kendir Demirkol, Arzu Irvem, Levent Doganay, Gizem Dinler Doganay^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The WHO-named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection had become a pandemic within a short time period since it was detected in Wuhan. The outbreak required the screening of millions of samples daily and overwhelmed diagnostic laboratories worldwide. During this pandemic, the handling of patient specimens according to the universal guidelines was extremely difficult as the WHO, CDC and ECDC required cold chain compliance during transport and storage of the swab samples. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different storage conditions on the COVID-19 real-time PCR assay on 30 positive nasopharyngeal and/or oropharyngeal samples stored at both ambient temperature (22 ± 2 °C) and +4 °C. The results revealed that all the samples stored at ambient temperature remain PCR positive for at least six days without any false-negative result. In conclusion, transporting and storing these types of swab samples at ambient temperature for six days under resource-limited conditions during the COVID-19 pandemics are acceptable.

Original language	English
Article number	114404
Journal	Journal of Virological Methods
Volume	301
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2021.114404
Publication status	Published - Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Funding

We thank to sample collection team members of our institution for technical assistance. Authors would like to thank Sharon Lynn Pugh, Associate Professor Emeritus of Education at Indiana University Bloomington for language editing.

Keywords

COVID-19
Real-time PCR
Sample storage

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.jviromet.2021.114404

Cite this

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title = "COVID-19 PCR test performance on samples stored at ambient temperature",

abstract = "The WHO-named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection had become a pandemic within a short time period since it was detected in Wuhan. The outbreak required the screening of millions of samples daily and overwhelmed diagnostic laboratories worldwide. During this pandemic, the handling of patient specimens according to the universal guidelines was extremely difficult as the WHO, CDC and ECDC required cold chain compliance during transport and storage of the swab samples. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different storage conditions on the COVID-19 real-time PCR assay on 30 positive nasopharyngeal and/or oropharyngeal samples stored at both ambient temperature (22 ± 2 °C) and +4 °C. The results revealed that all the samples stored at ambient temperature remain PCR positive for at least six days without any false-negative result. In conclusion, transporting and storing these types of swab samples at ambient temperature for six days under resource-limited conditions during the COVID-19 pandemics are acceptable.",

keywords = "COVID-19, Real-time PCR, Sample storage",

author = "Agaoglu, {Nihat Bugra} and Jale Yildiz and {Akgun Dogan}, Ozlem and Betsi Kose and Gizem Alkurt and {Kendir Demirkol}, Yasemin and Arzu Irvem and Levent Doganay and {Dinler Doganay}, Gizem",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jviromet.2021.114404",

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AU - Agaoglu, Nihat Bugra

AU - Yildiz, Jale

AU - Akgun Dogan, Ozlem

AU - Kose, Betsi

AU - Alkurt, Gizem

AU - Kendir Demirkol, Yasemin

AU - Irvem, Arzu

AU - Doganay, Levent

AU - Dinler Doganay, Gizem

PY - 2022/3

Y1 - 2022/3

N2 - The WHO-named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection had become a pandemic within a short time period since it was detected in Wuhan. The outbreak required the screening of millions of samples daily and overwhelmed diagnostic laboratories worldwide. During this pandemic, the handling of patient specimens according to the universal guidelines was extremely difficult as the WHO, CDC and ECDC required cold chain compliance during transport and storage of the swab samples. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different storage conditions on the COVID-19 real-time PCR assay on 30 positive nasopharyngeal and/or oropharyngeal samples stored at both ambient temperature (22 ± 2 °C) and +4 °C. The results revealed that all the samples stored at ambient temperature remain PCR positive for at least six days without any false-negative result. In conclusion, transporting and storing these types of swab samples at ambient temperature for six days under resource-limited conditions during the COVID-19 pandemics are acceptable.

AB - The WHO-named Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection had become a pandemic within a short time period since it was detected in Wuhan. The outbreak required the screening of millions of samples daily and overwhelmed diagnostic laboratories worldwide. During this pandemic, the handling of patient specimens according to the universal guidelines was extremely difficult as the WHO, CDC and ECDC required cold chain compliance during transport and storage of the swab samples. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two different storage conditions on the COVID-19 real-time PCR assay on 30 positive nasopharyngeal and/or oropharyngeal samples stored at both ambient temperature (22 ± 2 °C) and +4 °C. The results revealed that all the samples stored at ambient temperature remain PCR positive for at least six days without any false-negative result. In conclusion, transporting and storing these types of swab samples at ambient temperature for six days under resource-limited conditions during the COVID-19 pandemics are acceptable.

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KW - Sample storage

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COVID-19 PCR test performance on samples stored at ambient temperature

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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