Diagnostic Approach to a Patient with Coronavirus Disease

Singhal, Vasudha

The primary challenge in the containment of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is to identify asymptomatic carriers of the disease, which cause a rapid disease transmission. The widespread use of fast and accurate diagnostic methods can effectively aid in the early identification and elimination of the silent spread of the pandemic by asymptomatic carriers. The diagnostic approach to the SARS CoV-2 may either involve detecting the viral RNA in the acute phase of infection via molecular assays or by detecting the antibodies that may have developed due to viral exposure in the patient’s blood after a few weeks of infection. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay is the gold standard for identification of SARS CoV-2 virus. Besides the RT-PCR, other molecular assay techniques, like isothermal nucleic acid amplification, have been identified as a game changer, as they are rapid, highly efficient and cost-effective and need no expertise to perform. Serological tests like ELISA and lateral flow assays, to detect Covid-19 specific antibodies, play an important role in the diagnostic, surveillance and epidemiological progress of the disease. Future improvement and innovation in the present diagnostic methods is the way forward in controlling this outbreak.