Introduction | Ethical Considerations | COVID-19 diagnostic tool decision-making appNew Tool
Introduction
The PANDORA-ID-NET consortium has members who are experts in the field of diagnostics, virology, coronaviruses and the closely related MERS-CoV, resulting in expert advice, especially on SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tools and validation.
There is already lots of excellent, robust information available on the internet regarding SARS-CoV-2 (see The Global Health Network's Outbreaks hub), but there are also many sources which do not provide well researched information.
One of the aima of this PANDORA-ID-NET COVID-19 hub was to provide a repository of links, compiled by experienced scientists, to sources of trusted information.
As procurement of reagents and resources was a serious issue for sites across the world, the hub provided links to a nucleic acid standards for RT-qPCR, as well as protocols for making and validating swabs and viral transport media.
The WHO have created a number of technical guidance publications regarding COVID-19.
Qiagen have produced a document describing 'critical factors for successful real time PCR' which may be of use when optimising procedures.
Database for sourcing reference materials
This link is for a database of suppliers who can provide reference materials for the validation of molecular assays.
Ethical considerations
It is important that any research complies with the ethical standards in your country (and other countries if it is a multi-country study). Whilst many COVID-19 related research projects are being fast tracked through ethical approval processes, time had to be factored in for these to be processed before sample collection. The following links provide general information about ethics in the context of COVID-19.
Seeking consent in COVID-19 research (UK NHS guidance).
Ethical considerations of digital contact tracing (WHO).
COVID-19 diagnostic tool decision-making app
The content of these pages was developed by Dr Linzy Elton (UCL) and Dr Liã Bárbara Arruda (UCL)