Métodos alternativos e céleres para o “upscaling” do diagnóstico molecular de SARS-CoV-2

• Autor(a) principal: Guerra, Mariana Alexandra Júlio
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10348/11870
• topic: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which started in December 2019, has become a global pandemic, affecting every country in the world. Portugal is no exception and, so far, over more 3.85 million positive cases and more than 22 thousand deaths have been confirmed. At UTAD COVID-19 testing center (UTAD Task Force), the molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcriptase real time PCR (RT-qPCR) was performed on RNA extracts to diagnose COVID-19 from naso/oropharyngeal swab samples or, more recently, and in some cases, passive saliva from suspicious infection cases. The results of the laboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 were here analyzed from October 2020 to March 2021 for four northern regions: Douro I – Marão and Douro Norte (MDN), Tâmega I – Baixo Tâmega (BTAM), Tâmega II – Vale do Sousa Sul (TIIVS) and Trásos-Montes – Alto Tâmega and Barroso (ATB). This analysis aimed to understand how the control measures adopted by the country had or did not have an impact during the second and third waves of the pandemic in the Northern of Portugal and compare it with the general situation in the country. The results were in line with the pattern observed in Portugal at the same period, with a very worrying scenario in the months of November, December and January. In turn, the month of February was highlighted by the decrease in the number of infected individuals, resulting from the lockdown and other contingency procedures decreed by the government, such as the mandatory teleworking, which were really necessary to limit the spread of the virus and reduce the number of infections. These results also suggest that the number of confirmed positive cases was higher in females, between 40 and 69 years old. In addition, the present study also aimed to develop and optimize new methodologies to increase the testing and response.