Comparison of Two High-Throughput Reverse Transcription-PCR Systems for the Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
Arryn Craney, Priya Velu, Michael J. Satlin, Kathy Fauntleroy, Katrina Callan, Amy Robertson, Marisa La Spina, Beryl Lei, Anqi Chen, Tricia Alston, Anna Rozman, Massimo Loda, Hanna Rennert, Melissa M. Cushing, Lars F. Westblade
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged as the cause of a worldwide pandemic. Many commercial SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assays have received Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, there are limited data describing their performance, in particular the performance of high-throughput SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR systems. We analyzed the diagnostic performance of two high-throughput systems: cobas 6800 and Panther Fusion, and their associated RT-PCR assays, with a collection of 389 nasopharyngeal specimens.