Molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 being challenged by virus variation and asymptomatic infection.

Jiang C, Li X, Ge C, Ding Y, Zhang T, Cao S, Meng L, Lu S

J Pharm Anal - (-) - [2021-03-26; online 2021-03-26]

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a pandemic for more than a year. With the expanding second wave of pandemic in winter, the continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has brought new issues, including the significance of virus mutations in infection and the detection of asymptomatic infection. In this review, we firstly introduced several major SARS-CoV-2 mutations since the COVID-19 outbreak and then mentioned the widely used molecular detection techniques to diagnose COVID-19, primarily focusing on their strengths and limitations. We further discussed the effects of viral genetic variation and asymptomatic infection on the molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The review finally summarized useful insights into the molecular diagnosis of COVID-19 under the special situation challenging by virus mutation and asymptomatic infection.

Type: Review

PubMed 33815862

DOI 10.1016/j.jpha.2021.03.006

Crossref 10.1016/j.jpha.2021.03.006

pii: S2095-1779(21)00026-5
pmc: PMC7997641


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