At present, the collection of samples for the new crown pneumonia nucleic acid test mainly takes samples from the upper respiratory tract and the lower respiratory tract for the test, which are specifically divided into pharyngeal swabs, anal swabs, nasal swabs, as well as lower respiratory tract lavage fluids, such as bronchoalveolar lavage fluids, deep sputum, etc., i.e., through the collection of pharyngeal, nasopharyngeal, and anal secretions, as well as the lower respiratory tract lavage fluids for the nucleic acid test.
Nucleic acid testing for C.N.C.P. is currently the gold standard for confirming C.N.C.P. virus infection, and different testing methods can be selected according to different populations, but the sampling methods of pharyngeal swabs and nasal swabs are most commonly used. Because of their ease of sampling and high accuracy, they are now widely used to screen the general public for CKPV infection.
Currently, there are two main types of C.N.C.P. test reagents approved for use in the marketplace: nucleic acid test reagents and antibody test reagents. Nucleic acid detection process includes specimen processing, nucleic acid extraction, PCR detection and other steps, the average detection time needs 2-3 hours. Because it directly detects the viral nucleic acid in the specimen we collect, it is specific and relatively sensitive, and is the main detection method at present. The disadvantage of this method is that nucleic acid testing requires a laboratory, equipment, reagents, consumables and specialized technicians, and is time-consuming, taking several hours to complete a batch of tests.
Is there any possibility of saving time in all aspects of nucleic acid testing? The answer is yes, it is possible. For example, at the sample collection stage, additional testing personnel can be deployed to speed up the process of sampling the throat swabs of the test subjects. Another example is that in the virus inactivation process, the heating method currently adopted by some testing organizations can be changed to using virus lysate, which can shorten the testing time by nearly half an hour. The advantage of nucleic acid detection method is to see the opportunity early, anticipate the enemy in the first: nucleic acid in the patient infected with the new coronavirus can be detected in the early days, theoretically, the patient infected with the nucleic acid can be detected in 1-2 days, can be detected earlier, isolation and treatment.