Table 3.
Diagnostic approaches adopted for the different species of genus Betacoronavirus by the developed and developing countries according to the preliminary laboratory clinical trials (Souce of data: Agostini et al., 2018; Kang, 2020; Wu et al., 2020; Weiss et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2020a,b; Zhang et al., 2017).
| Species in the Betacoronavirus | Origin of clinical samples | Year/stage of development | Salient findings | Sensitivity/specificity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SARS-CoV | Real-time fluorescent PCR (Hong Kong) | 2003 | Enhanced real-time PCR method was effective | Threshold sensitivity |
| SARS-CoV | Blot assay with N195 protein (Singapore) | 2003 | >90% of the specificity observed | Threshold sensitivity |
| SARS-CoV | Biochemical assay (Taiwan) | 2004 | Neutralization test was found suitable in terms of sensitivity observed | Threshold sensitivity |
| MERS-CoV | RNA amplification kit (Japan) | 2014 | RT-PCR was able to detect even at lower detection range of viral RNA copies (~1.6–2.0) | Threshold sensitivity |
| MERS-CoV | RNA detection kits based on rRT-PCR (Korea) | 2016 | Kits were able to provide good specificity and sensitivity clinical specimens having high inhibition potential | Threshold sensitivity |
| MERS-CoV | upE and ORF1a gene based PCR (Korea) | 2017 | RT-iiPCR Assays and RT-qPCR assays were correlated |
Threshold sensitivity |
| SARS-CoV | RT-PCR biochemical assay (Canada) | 2004 | Natural process mimics peroxidases | Broad dynamic detection ranges |
| SARS-CoV | Real time qRT-PCR (Hong Kong) | 2005 | Immunocromatographic test and ELISA test was quite useful with specificity of 95% | Broad dynamic detection ranges |
| MERS-CoV | rRT-PCR based assay (Iran) | 2015 | non-nested RT-PCR assay with Cor-p-F2 and Cor-p-R1 was found suitable | Broad dynamic detection ranges |
| SARS-CoV-2 | rRT-PCR based assay (Germany) | 2020 | RdRp gene assays and E gene provided satisfactory results | Broad dynamic detection ranges |
| SARS-CoV-2 | RT-PCR test Kit based assay (U.K.) | 2020 | Broad dynamic detection range | Broad dynamic detection ranges |
| SARS-CoV-2 | RT-PCR test Kit based assay (China) | 2020 | Metagenomics sequencing kit provided good results | Broad dynamic detection ranges |
| SARS-CoV-2 | RT-PCR test Kit based assay (U.S.A.) | 2020 | Commercial process gave good results | Threshold sensitivity |
| SARS-CoV-2 | Enzyme-assisted nanocomplexes for nucleic acids detection (Singapore) | 2020 | High-throughput screening enabled monitoring of evolution | Broad dynamic detection ranges |
| SARS-CoV-2 | Convalescent plasma therapy (India) | 2020 | Under pre-clinical trial and not licensed for diagnostic procedures |
Threshold Sensitivity (more clinical trials/observations are required) |