People fill in health questionnaires at an outdoor clinic in Seoul’s Songpa Ward on Sept. 24, 2020, before undergoing polymerase chain reaction tests amid fears of a new coronavirus resurgence. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Fishery Products Quality Management Service (NFQS) announced on Wednesday that it has developed a new method to identify false negatives or positives from real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that are used for the diagnosis of COVID-19.
This technology measures the sensitivity of the real-time PCR test by using the viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS) detection method. VHS is a deadly infectious disease that afflicts various types of fish, including halibut and salmon.
The reliability of the VHS detection method is highly recognized worldwide since it ensures very high accuracy in the confirmation of virus infection.
The NFQS explained that it can determine the accuracy of a test by analyzing the real-time PCR test result on the basis of the VHS detection method.
If the result of the real-time PCR diagnosis has lower sensitivity than the one shown in the VHS detection method, it can be interpreted as a false negative.
The material verified to be a false negative can be used as a positive control group to distinguish false positives.
This technology can also be used to check if the lab where the real-time PCR diagnosis is conducted is contaminated by fungi or spit from researchers.
It also can be used to distinguish whether the density of nucleic acid is suitable for a real-time PCR test when extracting nucleic acid, a core ingredient for the diagnosis of high viscosity samples such as spit and phlegm.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
