Background: Diagnosis is one of the main strategies to deal with infectious and deadly diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The global pandemic of COVID-19 has led to an immediate need to expand rapid diagnostic techniques. New isothermal-based methods are being developed for COVID-19 detection aiming to resolve the limitations related to the reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) method through immediate samples processing and minimizing false-negative or ambiguous results. Advances in nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAATs) can provide affordable and easy-to-use diagnostic platforms with high sensitivity and specificity in order to be available to the public as approved commercial kits.
Aims: The development of point-of-care (POC) testing can assist in rapid clinical decision-making and mitigate burdens on health care facilities. Finally, we discussed the different diagnostic methods based on NAATs for COVID-19 in detail. Comparative parameters are addressed for all assays and Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA)-approved commercial tests are cited.
Conclusions: Isothermal-coupled methods and LAMP-based molecular methods have been suggested as suitable portable tests with high diagnostic speed for use in POC testing.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; molecular diagnostic assays; nucleic acid amplification techniques; point-of-care testing.
© 2022 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.