We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us

Download Mobile App





New Approach to Pooled COVID-19 Testing Could Be Highly Effective in Curbing SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 26 Feb 2021
A new approach to pooled COVID-19 testing can be a highly effective tool for curbing the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, even if infections are widespread in a community.

Simple pooled testing schemes could be implemented with minimal changes to current testing infrastructures in clinical and public health laboratories, according to researchers at Harvard T.H. More...
Chan School of Public Health (Boston, MA, USA) and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (Cambridge, MA, USA).

By identifying infected individuals so that they can be treated or isolated, SARS-CoV-2 testing is a powerful tool for curbing the COVID-19 pandemic and safely reopening schools and businesses. But limited and sometimes costly testing throughout the pandemic has hampered diagnosing individuals and has hamstrung public health efforts to curtail the virus’s spread. Pooled testing, in which multiple individual samples are processed at once, could be a powerful tool to increase testing efficiency. If a pooled test comes back negative, all samples in that pool are considered negative, thus eliminating the need for further testing. If a pooled sample is positive, the individual samples within that testing group need to be tested again separately to identify which specific samples are positive. Although pooled testing has been implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, its usefulness is curtailed when the pathogen is widespread in a community. Under those circumstances, most pooled samples could be positive and require additional testing to identify the positive individuals in each pool. This confirmatory testing eliminates any efficiencies gained by pooled testing.

To identify ways to make pooled testing more useful during widespread outbreaks, the researchers developed a model for how quantities of viral RNA - which are used to identify SARS-CoV-2 infection - vary across infected people in the population during an outbreak. This gave the researchers a very detailed picture of how test sensitivity is affected by pool size and SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. They then used the model to identify optimal pooled testing strategies under different scenarios. Using the model, testing efforts could be tailored to the available resources in a community so as to maximize the number of infections identified using as few tests as possible. Even in labs with substantial resource constraints, the team created simple pooled testing schemes that could identify as many as 20 times more infected individuals per day compared with individual testing.

“Our research adds another tool to the testing and public health toolbox,” said Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard Chan School and associate member of the Broad. “For public health agencies and clinical laboratories that are performing testing under resource limitations—which for COVID-19 is nearly every nation—this new research demonstrates that we can gain much more testing power for both medical and public health use with the same or even fewer resources than are currently being utilized.”

Related Links:
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard



Gold Member
Multiplex Genetic Analyzer
MassARRAY Dx Analyzer (Europe only)
Collection and Transport System
PurSafe Plus®
Urine Chemistry Control
Dropper Urine Chemistry Control
Gold Member
Immunochromatographic Assay
CRYPTO Cassette
Read the full article by registering today, it's FREE! It's Free!
Register now for FREE to LabMedica.com and get access to news and events that shape the world of Clinical Laboratory Medicine.
  • Free digital version edition of LabMedica International sent by email on regular basis
  • Free print version of LabMedica International magazine (available only outside USA and Canada).
  • Free and unlimited access to back issues of LabMedica International in digital format
  • Free LabMedica International Newsletter sent every week containing the latest news
  • Free breaking news sent via email
  • Free access to Events Calendar
  • Free access to LinkXpress new product services
  • REGISTRATION IS FREE AND EASY!
Click here to Register








Channels

Hematology

view channel
Image: New evidence shows viscoelastic testing can improve assessment of blood clotting during postpartum hemorrhage (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

Viscoelastic Testing Could Improve Treatment of Maternal Hemorrhage

Postpartum hemorrhage, severe bleeding after childbirth, remains one of the leading causes of maternal mortality worldwide, yet many of these deaths are preventable. Standard care can be hindered by delays... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The CloneSeq-SV approach can allow researchers to study how cells within high-grade serous ovarian cancer change over time (Photo courtesy of MSK)

Blood Test Tracks Treatment Resistance in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer

High-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) is often diagnosed at an advanced stage because it spreads microscopically throughout the abdomen, and although initial surgery and chemotherapy can work, most... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to improve access to Hb variant testing with the Gazelle POC diagnostic platform (Photo courtesy of Hemex Health)

Terumo BCT and Hemex Health Collaborate to Improve Access to Testing for Hemoglobin Disorders

Millions of people worldwide living with sickle cell disease and other hemoglobin disorders experience delayed diagnosis and limited access to effective care, particularly in regions where testing is scarce.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.