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Two Pandemics, One Challenge—Leveraging Molecular Test Capacity of Tuberculosis Laboratories for Rapid COVID-19 Case-Finding

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...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Homolka, Susanne, Paulowski, Laura, Andres, Sönke, Hillemann, Doris, Jou, Ruwen, Günther, Gunar, Claassens, Mareli, Kuhns, Martin, Niemann, Stefan, Maurer, Florian P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7588527/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32956612
http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2611.202602
Descripción
Sumario: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.