Alper Tahmaz1, Emine Kübra Dindar Demiray2

1Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Health Sciences University, Antalya Health Practice and Research Hospital, Antalya, Türkiye
2Department of Infectious Disease, Bitlis State Hospital, Bitlis, Türkiye

Keywords: COVID-19, microbiological diagnosis, SARS-CoV-2.

Abstract

Early detection and rapid management are crucial to improve survival in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, and after two years of the pandemic, many efforts have been made for early detection. Considering that COVID-19 patients may show no signs and symptoms that can distinguish COVID-19 from other infective or non-infective diseases, the use of rapid microbiological techniques is a key factor. These techniques have been developed to rapidly detect severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and prevent viral spread and transmission. However, recent data on the clinical, radiological, and laboratory characteristics of COVID-19 during hospitalization may help physicians to suspect SARS-CoV-2 infection early and distinguish it from other etiologies. Information on clinical features and microbiological techniques will be crucial in the coming years when endemic circulation of SARS-CoV-2 will likely be associated with clusters of infection. This review aims to compile the microbiological features and diagnostic methods of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is thought to have cause the strongest pandemic in the world, in the light of the literature.

Cite this article as: Tahmaz A, Dindar Demiray EK. SARS-CoV-2: A microbiological perspective on characteristics and diagnosis. D J Med Sci 2023;9(2):88-94. doi: 10.5606/ fng.btd.2023.51.

Author Contributions

Took part in the idea and design of the manuscript, ensuring the controls of the manuscript, collecting the data, analysing the data, writing the manuscript and literature review: A.T.; Took part in the conception and design of the manuscript, ensuring the controls of the manuscript, writing the manuscript and literature review: E.K.D.D.

Data Sharing Statement:
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/ or publication of this article.

Financial Disclosure

The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.