Open AccessCÓMO DETECTAR SARS-CoV-2 EMPLEANDO PRUEBAS DE LABORATORIO
Author(s) -
Jazmin De La Luz Armendariz,
Luis Gómez Núñez,
Catalina Tufiño Loza,
Manuel Zapata Moreno,
María Concepción Chávez Flores,
Ricardo Barba-Hernández,
José Francisco Rivera Benitez
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
ra rió guendaruyubi
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2594-0562
pISSN - 2594-0554
DOI - 10.53331/rar.v3i9.1089
Subject(s) - serology , pandemic , disease , medicine , population , covid-19 , virology , diagnostic test , immunology , antibody , environmental health , infectious disease (medical specialty) , pediatrics
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is an emerging coronavirus identified in 2019 and is responsible for the disease called COVID-19, which was declared a global pandemic, in 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO). At the beginning of May 2020, more than 4 million infected people have been confirmed in the world and more than 278 thousand deaths, estimating an economic impact of more than 3 billion dollars. In Mexico, a total of 36,327 positive cases have been confirmed. The impact of this disease is mainly associated with the rapid spread among the human population and the severity of the clinical signs, which, if not treated, can lead to death. Currently, there is no vaccine available to prevent the disease and its control is based on the clinical diagnosis, which must be carried out by a specialist. This diagnosis must be confirmed by laboratory tests, which are of two types, mainly: for the detection of the etiological agent (virological and molecular) and serological (detection of antibodies), both tests must be carried out by institutions approved by the InDRE. The objective of molecular diagnosis (which is the most widely used worldwide) is to identify a fragment of the viral genome, which would indicate that the individual has had exposure and has been infected with SARS-CoV-2. In the case of serological tests, the diagnosis is based on identifying the presence of specific antibodies in serum samples from patients in the convalescent phase, with this test the degree of protection in a population can be evaluated. Both types of tests can be performed in patients with or without symptoms and are of utmost importance for the establishment of prevention and control measures for this pandemic.