Banko, Ana (35774145100)Ana (35774145100)BankoPetrovic, Gordana (57521330000)Gordana (57521330000)PetrovicMiljanovic, Danijela (57403944300)Danijela (57403944300)MiljanovicLoncar, Ana (57225067864)Ana (57225067864)LoncarVukcevic, Marija (57226308254)Marija (57226308254)VukcevicDespot, Dragana (57205671960)Dragana (57205671960)DespotCirkovic, Andja (56120460600)Andja (56120460600)Cirkovic2025-06-122025-06-122021https://doi.org/10.3390/v13071321https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85111146619&doi=10.3390%2fv13071321&partnerID=40&md5=eba55090c00dd7036272cef602d807b3https://remedy.med.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/4109Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is the most sensitive and specific assay and, therefore, is the “gold standard” diagnostic method for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The aim of this study was to compare and analyze the detection performance of three different commercially available SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection kits: Sansure Biotech, GeneFinder™, and TaqPath™ on 354 randomly selected samples from hospitalized COVID-19 patients. All PCR reactions were performed using the same RNA isolates and one real-time PCR machine. The final result of the three evaluated kits was not statistically different (p = 0.107), and also had a strong positive association and high Cohen’s κ coefficient. In contrast, the average Ct values that refer to the ORF1ab and N gene amplification were significantly different (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively), with the lowest obtained by the TaqPath™ for the ORF1ab and by the Sansure Biotech for the N gene. The results show a high similarity in the analytical sensitivities for SARS-CoV-2 detection, which indicates that the diagnostic accuracy of the three assays is comparable. However, the SanSure Biotech kit showed a bit better diagnostic performance. Our findings suggest that the imperative for improvement should address the determination of cut-off Ct values and rapid modification of the primer sets along with the appearance of new variants. © 2021 by the authors.COVID-19Diagnostic efficacyMolecular testingPCR kitsReal-time PCRSARS-CoV-2