Tweet
Expert Rev Mol Diagn
. 2021 Apr 28;1-4.
doi: 10.1080/14737159.2021.1919513. Online ahead of print.
Performance comparison of the Cobas? Liat? and Cepheid? GeneXpert? systems on SARS-CoV-2 detection in nasopharyngeal swab and posterior oropharyngeal saliva
Hin Fung Tsang 1 2 , Wai Ming Stanley Leung, Lawrence Wing Chi Chan 2 , William Chi Shing Cho 3 , Sze Chuen Cesar Wong 2
Affiliations
- PMID: 33906571
- DOI: 10.1080/14737159.2021.1919513
Abstract
Background: Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) based methods such as real-time reverse transcription polymerase-chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) are the gold standard for diagnosis of current infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The cobas? Liat? and cepheid? GeneXpert? systems are two rapid real-time RT-PCR platforms offering rapid, specimen-to-answer detection of SARS-CoV-2.Research design and methods: In this study, we compared the performance of these two systems on SARS-CoV-2 detection in 9 nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) and 70 posterior oropharyngeal saliva specimens collected from 79 patients suspected of SARS-CoV-2 infection between August 2020 and March 2021.Results: The Positive Percent Agreement (PPA), Negative Percent Agreement (NPA) and overall Percent Agreement (OPA) between cepheid? Xpress SARS-CoV-2 assay and cobas? Liat? SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B assay were found to be 100%. We demonstrated an excellent overall test concordance of the Liat? SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B assay and Xpress SARS-CoV-2 assay. The small sample size of SARS-CoV-2 positive and weak-positive specimens is the inherent limitation of this study.Conclusions: The performance of the cobas? Liat? SARS-CoV-2 & Influenza A/B assay is equivalent to the cepheid? Xpress SARS-CoV-2 assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection using NPS and posterior oropharyngeal saliva.
Keywords: COVID-19 diagnosis; Coronavirus disease-2019; POCT; SARS-CoV-2 PCR; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.