Guidelines and Safety Considerations in the Laboratory Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Prerequisite Study for Health Professionals

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging challenging area for the researchers to buckle up against the spread and control of the virus. Since earlier times, the diagnosis has been an important procedure in estimating the fate of epidemics by indicating the extent to which disease has been spread and to the extent, further disease prognosis would occur. The absence of anti-viral therapies and vaccines for COVID-19 at present suggests early diagnosis and isolation of the patients as the only smart approach available as of now. Presently, the increasing death rates, faster rates of transmission, non-availability of vaccines, and treatment have over-pressurized the researchers, health professionals, and government officials to develop effective clinical strategies in diagnosis and to come up with guidelines to be followed during conduction of each diagnostic procedure for maintaining healthcare systems. Since the incubation period of this virus is 2–14 days, a patient can transmit the infection without showing symptoms. Therefore, early diagnosis and isolation of susceptible individuals are the only way to limit the spread of the virus. Significance of diagnosis and triaging, information on specimen collection, safety considerations while handling, transport, and storage of samples have been highlighted in this paper to make people more aware and develop better clinical strategies in the future.

Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), Transmembrane Peptidase Serine 2 (TMPRSS2), and Furin Expression Increases in the Lungs of Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM): Implications for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Infections

“…ACE2 is the first step for the virus to attach to the host cell membrane [24,33]. Cofactor facilitating SARS-CoV-2 infectivity such as TMPRSS2 cleaves the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 and facilitates the fusion of SARS-CoV-2 and cellular membranes [24,25], thus a critical factor enabling cellular infection [34].…”

Natural products can be used in therapeutic management of COVID-19: Probable mechanistic insights

“…This global calamity has posed a difficult time throughout the world, impeding the normal lifestyle. It has become urgent to develop a new vaccine or drugs against this deadly infectious disease at the earliest [23] , [24] , [25] . The scientific community worldwide has reported various preliminary studies on the pathophysiology of COVID-19 patients and provided some clues to treat this pandemic [26] .…”

Genomic Variations in the Structural Proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and Their Deleterious Impact on Pathogenesis: A Comparative Genomics Approach

“…Therefore, immediate diagnosis post-viral entry is not possible, putting undue pressure on the healthcare infrastructure and medical facilities. Diagnosis is mostly performed through reverse transcription real-time – polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) approach, but it takes time to provide results ( Singh et al., 2020a ; Singh et al., 2020b ; Vo et al., 2020 ; Asrani et al., 2021a ). Rapid antigen test is also being used in certain parts; however, rRT-PCR is a more accurate procedure to be followed for the diagnosis ( Asrani et al., 2021b ).…”