2020, Cilt 36, Sayı 5, Sayfa(lar) 030-040
Diagnostic approaches for COVID-19
İlke Karayel Hacıoğlu
Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Viroloji Anabilim Dalı, Ankara, Türkiye
Keywords: COVID-19, diagnosis, RT-PCR, SARS-CoV-2
Downloaded:663 - Viewed: 2213

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) emerged in Hubei Province of China in December 2019 and spread all over the world. Fast and accurate laboratory tests of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the disease, are important in early diagnosis, early reporting, taking early quarantine measures, applying early treatment and stopping the transmission path. Since the symptoms observed in COVID-19 patients are not specific symptoms, they cannot be utilized in the definitive diagnosis. Currently, the diagnosis of COVID-19 is made by RT-PCR, serological tests and computed tomography, also alternative technologies such as rapid diagnostic kits, LAMP, RT-LAMP, CRISPR etc., are under development and are thought to be used in the diagnosis of COVID-19 in the future. In this review, it is aimed to give information about sample collection, nucleic acid tests, serological tests and computed tomography as well as alternative techniques for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. Given the worldwide spread of COVID-19, there is an urgent need to develop fast, reliable and inexpensive alternative diagnostic tests, and the development of these methods will also be useful in preventing future epidemics.