. 2020 May 13;128:104438. doi: 10.1016/j.jcv.2020.104438

Table 1.

Limits of detection for SARS-CoV-2 by specimen type.

	Sample Type
	NP Swab		BAL		Sputum		Plasma		CSF		Stool**		PBS		VTM/UTM		HBSS (Hanks')
Target	N1	N2	N1	N2	N1	N2	N1	N2	N1	N2	N1	N2	N1	N2	N1	N2	N1	N2	At LoD
Dilution	1e^-5	2e^-5	1e^-5	2e^-5	1e^-5	1e^-5	5e^-4	1e^-5	1e^-5	1e^-6	1e^-5	1e^-5	1e^-5	1e^-5	1e^-5	1e^-5	1e^-5	1e^-5
Copies/ Reaction*	10	5	10	5	10	10	20	10	10	1	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10
Mean C_T	33.8	35.1	33.8	35.4	34.5	35.4	34.4	34.9	35.5	36	35.7	36.2	35	34.8	34.6	34	34.8	34.8
Pos. Detected	20/20	20/20	20/20	20/20	19/20	19/20	20/20	20/20	19/20	20/20	20/20	20/20	20/20	20/20	20/20	20/20	20/20	20/20
Dilution	2e^-5	5e^-5	2e^-5	5e^-5	1e^-6	1e^-6	1e^-5	2e^-5	2e^-5	1e^-7	1e^-6	1e^-6	2e^-5	2e^-5	1e^-6	1e^-6	1e^-6	1e^-6	Beyond LoD
Copies/ Reaction*	5	2	5	2	1	1	10	5	5	0.1	1	1	5	5	1	1	1	1
Mean C_T	35.9	36.4	35.6	36.9	36.5	37.2	35.4	36.5	36.5	38.3	37.1	37.8	35.7	36.4	37.2	37.5	36.5	36.1
Pos. Detected	18/20	17/20	18/20	16/20	8/20	14/20	17/20	18/20	14/20	1/20	5/20	8/20	18/20	18/20	7/20	14/20	17/20	18/20
Unique Specimens	77		104		47		100		100		60		N/A		N/A		N/A		Specificity
Unique Respiratory Pos.	20		25		16		N/A		N/A		N/A		N/A		N/A		N/A		Specificity

Abbreviations: NDET, Not detected; CT, cycle threshold; NP nasopharyngeal; BAL, bronchoalveolar lavage; PBS, phosphate buffered saline; VTM, viral transport medium; UTM, universal transport medium; HBSS, Hanks’ balanced buffer solution; CSF, cerebral spinal fluid; rxn, reaction.

Conversion of copies/rxn to copies/mL is a factor of 50.

*Estimated copies/rxn were quantified using digital droplet PCR of SARS-CoV-2 dilutions series in duplicates.

**Stool serial dilutions are adjusted as 20 uL of stool sample was already diluted with 180uL STAR buffer for extraction (1:10 dilution).