NOVEL SARS COV 2 is a major pandemic that is threatening the world with its varying clinical presentation. Detection of the SARS COV 2 earlier plays a major role in treating & preventing the spread of infection. The aim of this study is to compare the diagnostic efficacy between three different Real Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test kits in detecting NOVEL SARS COV -2 Infection and analyzing the efficiency of each kit in diagnosing the infection. Study period: January 2021 – February 2021Type of study: Prospective study. Place of study: Covid Care Centre, Tertiary Care Testing Facility Specimens collected: Nasopharngeal swabs from 20 RT PCR confirmed positive patients admitted in COVID isolation ward and nasopharyngeal swabs from 100 Hospitalized NON COVID patients at Tertiary Care Testing Facility were collected. Three different RT-PCR diagnostic kits (REAL STAR®SARS-CoV-2 RTPCR KIT from ALTONA DIAGNOSTICS, LABGUNTM COVID 19 EXOFASTRTPCR KIT from LABGENOMICS, STANDARD M nCoV Real time detection kit from SD BIOSENSOR) were used for detection of SARS COV 2 infection. Results from three kits were compared. A total of 120 Nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from patients and enrolled in this study. 20 Nasopharyngeal swabs from RTPCR confirmed positive patients and 100 nasopharyngeal swabs from hospitalised NON COVID patients were taken as standard reference. All samples were tested using three RTPCR diagnostic test kits. Results from each kit were compared by Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV, NPV and kappa value. The Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV, NPV, kappa values for LABGUNTM COVID 19 EXOFAST RTPCR KIT were 90%,100%, 100%, 98%, 0.937 respectively, Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV, NPV, kappa values for STANDARD M nCoV Real time detection kit were 85%,100%, 100%, 97%, 90% respectively, and the Sensitivity, Specificity, PPV, NPV, kappa values for REAL STAR® SARS-CoV-2 RTPCR KIT were 95%, 100%, 100%, 99%, 0.969 respectively. Ct values of all positive cases detected were with in the limits as per each kit protocol. All the three RT-PCR test kits used have shown to provide valid results in detecting the NOVEL SARS COV 2 infection. The diagnostic efficacy of all three kits is almost equal in detecting the NOVEL SARS COV 2. All three kits were highly specific and almost nearly sensitive when compared among them in detecting the virus.

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