Comparative Evaluation of the PowerChek Respiratory Virus Panel RT-PCR Assay Detecting 16 Respiratory Viruses Including SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

The endemic transition of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has made diagnosis of acute respiratory infections complex. There is a demand for tests that can detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with other respiratory viruses. The PowerChek Respiratory Virus Panel (PowerChek, Kogenebiotech) is a newly developed real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay that simultaneously detects SARS-CoV-2 and 15 other respiratory viruses; however, its performance requires assessment. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the PowerChek assay with that of established RT-PCR assays. Nasopharyngeal swab specimens were obtained from patients with acute respiratory symptoms. Specimens were tested using the Allplex Respiratory Virus panel, Allplex SARS-CoV-2 PCR assays (Allplex, Seegene), and PowerChek assay. In total, 407 specimens were tested. The PowerChek assay detected all positive cases identified by the Allplex assays and 11 additional detection targets in 10 specimens. The overall agreement between the two assays was 97.5% (397/407). The PowerChek Respiratory Virus Panel assay demonstrated a reliable performance comparable to that of established RT-PCR assays. This assay could be clinically useful because the simultaneous detection of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses and pre-dispensed RT-PCR reagents can simplify testing and diagnosis.