Comparison and analysis of the detection performance of six new coronavirus nucleic acid detection reagents

Abstract

Objective To compare and analyse the detection performance of different 2019-new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) nucleic acid detection kits, in order to provide references for laboratory. Methods Six kinds of domestic reagents (A—F reagent) were selected for parallel detection of a series of samples from one patient in this hospital whose 2019-nCoV nucleic acid result was confirmed weakly positive. The samples were taken at three different times, the RNAs were extracted and amplified, and two parallel tests were performed each time by use of these six kits. The detection performance was compared according to the results of each kit. Results The three parallel test results (ORF1ab and N gene) of C and F reagents were positive, the results of D reagent showed the N gene was not detected, and the results of A, B, E reagents showed the ORF1ab gene was not detected sometimes. The reproducibility of in-batch detections by C reagent was the best, and the CT values of F reagents (N and ORF1ab), E reagents (ORF1ab) and A reagents (ORF1ab) showed changes in trend. Conclusion There are differences in the detection ability of six 2019-nCoV nucleic acid detection reagents for weakly positive samples, and the accuracy, sensitivity and reproducibility of some reagents are not good. There is an urgent need to further optimize and improve their performance in order to better meet the needs of large-scale screening. Key words: 2019 new coronavirus; nucleic acid detection; reagent kits, diagnostic; performance comparison