The importance of combining serological testing with RT-PCR assays for efficient detection of COVID-19 and higher diagnostic accuracy
Misdiagnosing suspected COVID-19 individuals could largely contribute to the viruses transmission, therefore, making an accurate diagnosis of infected subjects vital in minimizing and containing the disease. Although RT-PCR is the standard method in detecting COVID-19, it is associated with some lim...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2023-04-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/15024.pdf |
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| author | Sawsan S. Alamri Ahdab Alsaieedi Yousef Khouqeer Marwah Afeef Samiyah Alharbi Abdullah Algaissi Maimonah Alghanmi Tarfa Altorki Ayat Zawawi Mohamed A. Alfaleh Anwar M. Hashem Rowa Alhabbab |
| author_facet | Sawsan S. Alamri Ahdab Alsaieedi Yousef Khouqeer Marwah Afeef Samiyah Alharbi Abdullah Algaissi Maimonah Alghanmi Tarfa Altorki Ayat Zawawi Mohamed A. Alfaleh Anwar M. Hashem Rowa Alhabbab |
| author_sort | Sawsan S. Alamri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Misdiagnosing suspected COVID-19 individuals could largely contribute to the viruses transmission, therefore, making an accurate diagnosis of infected subjects vital in minimizing and containing the disease. Although RT-PCR is the standard method in detecting COVID-19, it is associated with some limitations, including possible false negative results. Therefore, serological testing has been suggested as a complement assay to RT-PCR to support the diagnosis of acute infections. In this study, 15 out of 639 unvaccinated healthcare workers (HCWs) were tested negative for COVID-19 by RT-PCR and were found seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein-specific IgM and IgG antibodies. These participants underwent additional confirmatory RT-PCR and SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific ELISA tests. Of the 15 individuals, nine participants were found negative by second RT-PCR but seropositive for anti-spike IgM and IgG antibodies and neutralizing antibodies confirming their acute infection. At the time of collection, these nine individuals were in close contact with COVID-19-confirmed patients, with 77.7% reporting COVID-19-related symptoms. These results indicate that including serological tests in the current testing profile can provide better outcomes and help contain the spread of the virus by increasing diagnostic accuracy to prevent future outbreaks rapidly. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:58:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d2ffacdb52a441979cd57f2b82e71f8d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:58:00Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-d2ffacdb52a441979cd57f2b82e71f8d2023-12-03T00:54:05ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592023-04-0111e1502410.7717/peerj.15024The importance of combining serological testing with RT-PCR assays for efficient detection of COVID-19 and higher diagnostic accuracySawsan S. Alamri0Ahdab Alsaieedi1Yousef Khouqeer2Marwah Afeef3Samiyah Alharbi4Abdullah Algaissi5Maimonah Alghanmi6Tarfa Altorki7Ayat Zawawi8Mohamed A. Alfaleh9Anwar M. Hashem10Rowa Alhabbab11Vaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaVaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaStudy & Research Department, King Fahad General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaIntensive Care Unit, King Fahad General Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Medical Laboratories Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi ArabiaVaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaVaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaVaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaVaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaVaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaVaccines and Immunotherapy Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaMisdiagnosing suspected COVID-19 individuals could largely contribute to the viruses transmission, therefore, making an accurate diagnosis of infected subjects vital in minimizing and containing the disease. Although RT-PCR is the standard method in detecting COVID-19, it is associated with some limitations, including possible false negative results. Therefore, serological testing has been suggested as a complement assay to RT-PCR to support the diagnosis of acute infections. In this study, 15 out of 639 unvaccinated healthcare workers (HCWs) were tested negative for COVID-19 by RT-PCR and were found seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein-specific IgM and IgG antibodies. These participants underwent additional confirmatory RT-PCR and SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific ELISA tests. Of the 15 individuals, nine participants were found negative by second RT-PCR but seropositive for anti-spike IgM and IgG antibodies and neutralizing antibodies confirming their acute infection. At the time of collection, these nine individuals were in close contact with COVID-19-confirmed patients, with 77.7% reporting COVID-19-related symptoms. These results indicate that including serological tests in the current testing profile can provide better outcomes and help contain the spread of the virus by increasing diagnostic accuracy to prevent future outbreaks rapidly.https://peerj.com/articles/15024.pdfSARS-CoV-2SerologyCOVID-19DiagnosticTesting profileInfection |
| spellingShingle | Sawsan S. Alamri Ahdab Alsaieedi Yousef Khouqeer Marwah Afeef Samiyah Alharbi Abdullah Algaissi Maimonah Alghanmi Tarfa Altorki Ayat Zawawi Mohamed A. Alfaleh Anwar M. Hashem Rowa Alhabbab The importance of combining serological testing with RT-PCR assays for efficient detection of COVID-19 and higher diagnostic accuracy PeerJ SARS-CoV-2 Serology COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing profile Infection |
| title | The importance of combining serological testing with RT-PCR assays for efficient detection of COVID-19 and higher diagnostic accuracy |
| title_full | The importance of combining serological testing with RT-PCR assays for efficient detection of COVID-19 and higher diagnostic accuracy |
| title_fullStr | The importance of combining serological testing with RT-PCR assays for efficient detection of COVID-19 and higher diagnostic accuracy |
| title_full_unstemmed | The importance of combining serological testing with RT-PCR assays for efficient detection of COVID-19 and higher diagnostic accuracy |
| title_short | The importance of combining serological testing with RT-PCR assays for efficient detection of COVID-19 and higher diagnostic accuracy |
| title_sort | importance of combining serological testing with rt pcr assays for efficient detection of covid 19 and higher diagnostic accuracy |
| topic | SARS-CoV-2 Serology COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing profile Infection |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/15024.pdf |
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