Life (Jan 2022)

Reliable and Scalable SARS-CoV-2 qPCR Testing at a High Sample Throughput: Lessons Learned from the Belgian Initiative

  • Steven Van Vooren,
  • James Grayson,
  • Marc Van Ranst,
  • Elisabeth Dequeker,
  • Lies Laenen,
  • Reile Janssen,
  • Laurent Gillet,
  • Fabrice Bureau,
  • Wouter Coppieters,
  • Nathalie Devos,
  • Benjamin Hengchen,
  • Pierre Wattiau,
  • Sibylle Méhauden,
  • Yvan Verlinden,
  • Kurt Van Baelen,
  • Theresa Pattery,
  • Jean-Pierre Valentin,
  • Kris Janssen,
  • Martine Geraerts,
  • John Smeraglia,
  • Jan Hellemans,
  • Pieter Wytynck,
  • Pieter Mestdagh,
  • Nienke Besbrugge,
  • René Höfer,
  • Friedel Nollet,
  • Jo Vandesompele,
  • Pieter De Smet,
  • John Lebon,
  • Emmanuel Vandewynckele,
  • Steven Verstrepen,
  • Wouter Uten,
  • Arnaud Capron,
  • Hugues Malonne,
  • Jeroen Poels,
  • Emmanuel André

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/life12020159
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 2
p. 159

Abstract

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We present our approach to rapidly establishing a standardized, multi-site, nation-wide COVID-19 screening program in Belgium. Under auspices of a federal government Task Force responsible for upscaling the country’s testing capacity, we were able to set up a national testing initiative with readily available resources, putting in place a robust, validated, high-throughput, and decentralized qPCR molecular testing platform with embedded proficiency testing. We demonstrate how during an acute scarcity of equipment, kits, reagents, personnel, protective equipment, and sterile plastic supplies, we introduced an approach to rapidly build a reliable, validated, high-volume, high-confidence workflow based on heterogeneous instrumentation and diverse assays, assay components, and protocols. The workflow was set up with continuous quality control monitoring, tied together through a clinical-grade information management platform for automated data analysis, real-time result reporting across different participating sites, qc monitoring, and making result data available to the requesting physician and the patient. In this overview, we address challenges in optimizing high-throughput cross-laboratory workflows with minimal manual intervention through software, instrument and assay validation and standardization, and a process for harmonized result reporting and nation-level infection statistics monitoring across the disparate testing methodologies and workflows, necessitated by a rapid scale-up as a response to the pandemic.

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