Editorial: Diagnosis of COVID-19 in Countries with Limited Health Resources – Blood Markers versus rRT–PCR
Abstract
Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China in December 2019
and its rapid worldwide spread, the real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain
reaction (rRT–PCR) test has become the gold standard for the etiological diagnosis of
COVID-19 infection [1]. However, for countries with limited health resources, rRT–PCR
test is relatively expensive and requires specialized laboratories and highly trained
personnel [2].
References
[1] Lippi, G., Mattiuzzi, C., Bovo, C., et al. (2020). Current laboratory diagnostics ofcoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Acta Biomedica, vol. 91, no. 2, pp. 137–145.
[2] Cohen, J. and Kupferschmidt, K. (2020). Countries test tactics in ‘war’ against COVID-19. Science, vol. 367, no. 6484, pp. 1287–1288.
[3] Velavan, T. P. and Meyer, C. G. (2020). Mild versus severe COVID-19: laboratorymarkers. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol 95, pp. 304–307.
[4] Santotoribio, J. D., Nuñez-Jurado, D., and Lepe-Balsalobre. E. (2020). Evaluation ofroutine blood tests for diagnosis of suspected coronavirus disease 2019. ClinicalLaboratory, vol. 66, no. 9.
[5] Ferrari, D., Sabetta, E., Ceriotti, D., et al. (2020). Routine blood analysis greatlyreduces the false-negative rate of RT-PCR testing for COVID-19. Acta Bio Medica,vol. 91, no. 3, e2020003.
[6] Ibnouf, A.-A. O., Khalil, M. H., Khalid, R., et al. (2020). Blood markers (lymphocytepercentages, neutrophils, CRP and ESR) can help in prioritizing rRT-PCR test forsuspected COVID-19 patients in countries with limited health resources. Pan AfricanMedical Journal, vol. 37, p. 331.
[2] Cohen, J. and Kupferschmidt, K. (2020). Countries test tactics in ‘war’ against COVID-19. Science, vol. 367, no. 6484, pp. 1287–1288.
[3] Velavan, T. P. and Meyer, C. G. (2020). Mild versus severe COVID-19: laboratorymarkers. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol 95, pp. 304–307.
[4] Santotoribio, J. D., Nuñez-Jurado, D., and Lepe-Balsalobre. E. (2020). Evaluation ofroutine blood tests for diagnosis of suspected coronavirus disease 2019. ClinicalLaboratory, vol. 66, no. 9.
[5] Ferrari, D., Sabetta, E., Ceriotti, D., et al. (2020). Routine blood analysis greatlyreduces the false-negative rate of RT-PCR testing for COVID-19. Acta Bio Medica,vol. 91, no. 3, e2020003.
[6] Ibnouf, A.-A. O., Khalil, M. H., Khalid, R., et al. (2020). Blood markers (lymphocytepercentages, neutrophils, CRP and ESR) can help in prioritizing rRT-PCR test forsuspected COVID-19 patients in countries with limited health resources. Pan AfricanMedical Journal, vol. 37, p. 331.
