Published Paper Details:

The pandemic coronavirus SARS CoV-2 in the world has caused a large infected population suffering from COVID-19. To curb the spreading of the virus, WHO urgently demanded an extension of screening and testing; thus, a rapid and simple diagnostic method is needed. The ease-of-use and rapid turnaround time of reverse transcription loop mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) and dry swab RNA extraction free method offer the potential to expand access to testing and decrease delays in diagnosis. In this study, ninety-four nasopharyngeal swabs were collected and tested for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR (gold standard), RT-LAMP and dry swab method. In this study, 68 (72.3%) out of 94 patients were positive for SARS CoV-2 infection by RT-PCR. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of RT-LAMP was 76.5%, 100%, 100% and 62%. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of dry swab method was 66%, 100%, 100% and 53%. Hundred percent sensitivity was occurred in RT-LAMP and Dry swab method with Ct<20. In Ct 20-30, sensitivity of RT-LAMP and dry swab method was 87.5% and 82.5%. RT-PCR method required molecular facility; trained technician; and it takes several hours to get the results. Although sensitivity and specificity of RT-LAMP and dry swab methods are inferior to RT-PCR, they can be performed easily in the short period of time (less than 2 hours). Therefore, rapid and simple alternative molecular diagnostic methods should be considered for diagnosis of SARS CoV-2 infection.