China News Service, November 30. Xu Wenbo, director of the Viral Disease Prevention and Control Institute of the China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on the 30th that the sensitivity and specificity of mainstream nucleic acid detection reagents in China have not changed, and they can cope with the import of Omi Keron mutant strains.
On the 30th, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council held a press conference on further improving the situation of new coronavirus vaccination.
A reporter asked: Can Omi Keron mutants be effectively detected using nucleic acid detection reagents?
Xu Wenbo responded that the mutation sites of the Omi Keron mutant strain are mainly concentrated on the new coronavirus spike protein. The primers and probe targets of the mainstream nucleic acid detection reagents in China are in the ORF1ab gene and the N gene. These two target regions are relatively stable. .
Therefore, the sensitivity and specificity of mainstream nucleic acid detection reagents in China have not changed, and they can cope with the import of Omi Keron mutant strains.
The primers and probe target areas of the nucleic acid detection kits announced in the eighth edition of China's "New Coronavirus Pneumonia Prevention and Control Program" were also shared by the China CDC Viral Disease Prevention and Control Institute on its website on January 21, 2020. The new coronavirus has been effective in the past two years, and many kits use this target.