Inconclusive SARS-COV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test reports: Interpretation, clinical and infection control implications

Sanjay Bhattacharya; Anju Vidyadharan; Vinitha Mary Joy

doi:10.4103/jacm.jacm_16_20

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Inconclusive SARS-COV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test reports: Interpretation, clinical and infection control implications

Sanjay Bhattacharya, Anju Vidyadharan, Vinitha Mary Joy

Keywords : COVID, inconclusive, indeterminate, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, SARS COV-2

Citation Information : Bhattacharya S, Vidyadharan A, Joy VM. Inconclusive SARS-COV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test reports: Interpretation, clinical and infection control implications. 2020; 22 (1):59-61.

DOI: 10.4103/jacm.jacm_16_20

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

Published Online: 13-08-2020

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Abstract

Inconclusive SARS CoV-2 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) reports for the detection of infection in symptomatic patients or during screening of asymptomatic contacts can cause clinical, diagnostic and infection control uncertainty. It has been noted that up to 5% of COVID RT-PCR reports may be inconclusive. The reasons for these inconclusive reports are varied and may be classified into virological causes, sample collection and sample quality-related issues and finally technical issues related primarily due to problems in RNA extraction. The objective of this article is to discuss these causes and suggest corrective measures.

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