Diagnóstico laboratorial da COVID-19

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged at the end of 2019 and affected almost every country in the world. Initially, due to the lack of treatment or vaccines, there was an urgent need to develop laboratory techniques to identify infected patients and isolate them to diminish viral propagation, making the laboratory diagnosis a valuable tool in helping control the viral dissemination of SARS-CoV-2. This review aimed to describe the main methods utilized to diagnose COVID-19, its differences, advantages, and disadvantages. The described information was obtained from scientific articles published from 2020 to 2023, using the “PubMed” database. Diagnosis by RT-PCR has been established as the “gold standard”, and can be used to diagnose the disease in the first days of infection. Serological methods for specific antibody detection are used as a diagnostic tool in the second week. Rapid tests are easy to perform and interpret and can be used for antigen or antibody detection. Genetic sequencing of the viral genome, despite not being a tool for routine diagnosis on a large scale, is useful for identifying viral variants. Laboratorial diagnosis has a fundamental role in public health monitoring and as research advances new methods are created in order to ensure ever more reliable.