A streamlined approach to rapidly detect SARS-CoV-2 infection, avoiding RNA extraction

Marzinotto, Stefania; Mio, Catia; Cifu', Adriana; Verardo, Roberto; Pipan, Corrado; Schneider, Claudio; Curcio, Francesco

In the current pandemic, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in samples by nucleic acid (NA) molecular analysis is the only method available to diagnose COVID-19 disease and to assess patients' infectiveness. Recently, the demand for laboratory reagents has greatly increased; in particular, there is a worldwide shortage of RNA extraction kits. Here, we describe a fast, simple and inexpensive method for the detection of SARS CoV-2 RNA, which includes a pretreatment with Proteinase K and a heating-cooling cycle before the amplification. This method bypasses the RNA extraction step; it leads to a higher amount of available viral RNA compared to the automated extraction methods, and generates the same profile in the subsequent amplification phase.