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. 2020 Dec 2;38(3):284–287. doi: 10.4103/ijmm.IJMM_20_380

Can Quantitative RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 Help in Better Management of Patients and Control of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Ashok Rattan **, Hafiz Ahmad 1,,2,*
PMCID: PMC7709651  PMID: 33154236

Abstract

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), represents a public health emergency of unprecedented proportion. The global containment efforts have been focused on testing, tracing of contacts and treatment (isolation) of those found COVID-19 positive. Since the whole genome sequences of a number of strains of this novel RNA virus were available in the public domain by early January 2020, a number of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) protocols were designed and used for diagnosis of this infection. Most RT-PCRs are designed for qualitative COVID-19 reporting (SARS-CoV-2 detected or not detected), but have been used for semi-quantitative estimation of viral load based on cycle threshold value. Our manuscript discusses the utility of quantitative PCR testing for COVID-19 and its patient management benefits.

Keywords: Coronavirus disease 2019, cycle threshold, patient management, quantitative RT-PCR, SARS-CoV-2

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Articles from Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of Elsevier

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