Homolka, Susanne; Paulowski, Laura; Andres, Sönke; Hillemann, Doris; Jou, Ruwen; Günther, Gunar; Claassens, Mareli; Kuhns, Martin; Niemann, Stefan; Maurer, Florian P (2020). Two Pandemics, One Challenge-Leveraging Molecular Test Capacity of Tuberculosis Laboratories for Rapid COVID-19 Case-Finding. Emerging infectious diseases, 26(11), pp. 2549-2554. U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 10.3201/eid2611.202602
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In many settings, the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic coincides with other major public health threats, in particular tuberculosis. Using tuberculosis (TB) molecular diagnostic infrastructure, which has substantially expanded worldwide in recent years, for COVID-19 case-finding might be warranted. We analyze the potential of using TB diagnostic and research infrastructures for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing. We focused on quality control by adapting the 12 Quality System Essentials framework to the COVID-19 and TB context. We conclude that diagnostic infrastructures for TB can in principle be leveraged to scale-up SARS-CoV-2 testing, in particular in resource-poor settings. TB research infrastructures also can support sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 to study virus evolution and diversity globally. However, fundamental principles of quality management must be followed for both TB and SARS-CoV-2 testing to ensure valid results and to minimize biosafety hazards, and the continuity of TB diagnostic services must be guaranteed at all times.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Further Contribution) |
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Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gastro-intestinal, Liver and Lung Disorders (DMLL) > Clinic of Pneumology |
UniBE Contributor: |
Günther, Gunar |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health |
ISSN: |
1080-6040 |
Publisher: |
U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Heidi Lobsiger |
Date Deposited: |
26 Nov 2020 13:32 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 15:42 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.3201/eid2611.202602 |
PubMed ID: |
32956612 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
COVID-19 PCR SARS-CoV-2 bacteria bacterial infections coronavirus disease laboratory quality control respiratory infections severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 tuberculosis and other mycobacteria viruses zoonoses |
BORIS DOI: |
10.7892/boris.148506 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/148506 |