Imperial College London
Alternate

Professor Graham P Taylor

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious Disease

Professor of Human Retrovirology
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 3910g.p.taylor Website

 
 
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Location

 

443Medical SchoolSt Mary's Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Mosscrop:2022:10.1016/j.jviromet.2022.114607,
author = {Mosscrop, L and Watber, P and Elliot, P and Cooke, G and Barclay, W and Freemont, PS and Rosadas, C and Taylor, GP},
doi = {10.1016/j.jviromet.2022.114607},
journal = {Journal of Virological Methods},
pages = {1--5},
title = {Evaluation of the impact of pre-analytical conditions on sample stability for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2022.114607},
volume = {309},
year = {2022}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Demand for accurate SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics is high. Most samples in the UK are collected in the community and rely on the postal service for delivery to the laboratories. The current recommendation remains that swabs should be collected in Viral Transport Media (VTM) and transported with a cold chain to the laboratory for RNA extraction and RT-qPCR. This is not always possible. We aimed to test the stability of SARS-CoV-2 RNA subjected to different pre-analytical conditions. Swabs were dipped into PBS containing cultured SARS-CoV-2 and placed in either a dry tube or a tube containing either normal saline or VTM. The tubes were then stored at different temperatures (20–50 °C) for variable periods (8 h to 5 days). Samples were tested by RT-qPCR targeting SARS-CoV-2 E gene. VTM outperformed swabs in saline and dry swabs in all conditions. Samples in VTM were stable, independent of a cold chain, for 5 days, with a maximum increase in cycle threshold (Ct) of 1.34 when held at 40 °C. Using normal saline as the transport media resulted in a loss of sensitivity (increased Ct) over time and with increasing temperature (up to 7.8 cycles compared to VTM). SARS-CoV-2 was not detected in 3/9 samples in normal saline when tested after 120 h incubation. Transportation of samples in VTM provides a high level of confidence in the results despite the potential for considerable, uncontrolled variation in temperature and longer transportation periods. False negative results may be seen after 96 h in saline and viral loads will appear lower.
AU  - Mosscrop,L
AU  - Watber,P
AU  - Elliot,P
AU  - Cooke,G
AU  - Barclay,W
AU  - Freemont,PS
AU  - Rosadas,C
AU  - Taylor,GP
DO  - 10.1016/j.jviromet.2022.114607
EP  - 5
PY  - 2022///
SN  - 0166-0934
SP  - 1
TI  - Evaluation of the impact of pre-analytical conditions on sample stability for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA
T2  - Journal of Virological Methods
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2022.114607
UR  - https://www.webofscience.com/api/gateway?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000860502200001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166093422001550?via%3Dihub
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/100860
VL  - 309
ER  -
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