| REVIEW ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 38
| Issue : 3 | Page : 284-287 |
Can quantitative RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 help in better management of patients and control of coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic
Ashok Rattan1, Hafiz Ahmad2
1 Advisor - Quality, Research and Development, Pathkind Labs, Gurgaon, Haryana, India
2 Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, RAK College of Medical Sciences, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University; Molecular Microbiology and COVID Lab In-Charge, RAK Hospital, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Hafiz Ahmad
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, RAK College of Medical Sciences, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Molecular Microbiology and COVID Lab In-Charge RAK Hospital, Ras Al Khaimah
UAE
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijmm.IJMM_20_380
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.
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