Efficacy of a novel SARS-CoV-2 detection kit without RNA extraction and purification

Fukumoto, Tatsuya; Iwasaki, Sumio; Fujisawa, Shinichi; Hayasaka, Kasumi; Sato, Kaori; Oguri, Satoshi; Taki, Keisuke; Nakakubo, Sho; Kamada, Keisuke; Yamashita, Yu; Konno, Satoshi; Nishida, Mutsumi; Sugita, Junichi; Teshima, Takanori

Abstract Rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 is critical for the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and preventing the spread of the virus. A novel “2019 Novel Coronavirus Detection Kit (nCoV-DK)” halves detection time by eliminating the steps of RNA extraction and purification. We evaluated concordance between the nCoV-DK and direct PCR. The virus was detected in 53/71 (74.6%) and 55/71 (77.5%) by the direct PCR and nCoV-DK, respectively, with overall concordance rate of 94.4%: 95.2% in nasopharyngeal swab, 95.5% in saliva, and 85.7% in sputum. The nCoV-DK effectively detects SARS-CoV-2 in all types of the samples including saliva, while reducing time required for detection, labor, and risk of human error.