FALSE-NEGATIVE RESULTS OF INITIAL RT-PCR ASSAYS FOR COVID-19: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Ingrid Arevalo-Rodriguez; Diana Buitrago-Garcia; Daniel Simancas-Racines; Paula Zambrano-Achig; Rosa del Campo; Agustin Ciapponi; Omar Sued; Laura Martinez-Garcia; Anne Rutjes; Nicola Low; Jose A Perez-Molina; Javier Zamora

Because the signs of infection mentioned above are non-specific, confirmation of cases is currently 81 based on the detection of a viral sequence by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction . Different RT-PCR schemes have been proposed; all of them include the N gene that codes for 83 the viral nucleocapsid. Other alternative targets are the E gene, for the viral envelope, or the S gene 84 for the spike, and the Hel gene for the RNA polymerase gene (RdRp/Helicase) [12, 13] . Molecular 85 criteria for in vitro diagnosis of COVID-19 disease are heterogeneous, and usually require the 86 detection of two or more genes of SARS-CoV-2 [14] . 87 RT-PCR repeated testing might be required to confirm a clinical diagnosis, especially in the presence 88 of symptoms close related to COVID-19 disease [15] . Cases with negative RT-PCR results at initial 89 . CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license It is made available under a author/funder, who has granted medRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity.