The Infectious Diseases Society of America Guidelines on the Diagnosis of COVID-19: Molecular Diagnostic Testing (January 2021)
Clinical Infectious Diseases·
- DOI
- 10.1093/cid/ciab048
- PMID
- 33480973
- PMCID
- PMC7929045
- OpenAlex
- W3122661585
- Study type
- Guideline
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
Universal access to accurate SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing is described as critical for patient care, hospital infection prevention, and the public health response to the pandemic.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The panel aimed to provide evidence-based guidance on the optimal use of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification tests for diagnosing COVID-19 in clinical, institutional, and public health settings.
Study design
This is a clinical practice guideline developed by a multidisciplinary panel using GRADE methodology to assess evidence certainty and formulate 17 diagnostic recommendations.
Population and setting
The guideline addresses testing for symptomatic individuals suspected of COVID-19, asymptomatic individuals with known or suspected exposure, and asymptomatic individuals without known exposure when results inform infection control, surgical eligibility, or transplant timing decisions.
Main findings
The panel recommends nucleic acid testing for all symptomatic individuals suspected of COVID-19 and for asymptomatic individuals with known or suspected contact with a case. Testing is suggested for asymptomatic individuals without exposure when results will impact isolation, PPE usage, surgical decisions, or transplantation timing, with prioritization depending on institutional resources and patient population needs.
Public-health relevance
Universal access to accurate SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid testing is described as critical for patient care, hospital infection prevention, and the public health response to the pandemic.
Important limitations
The panel acknowledges that the quality of evidence in the current diagnostic literature is moderate to very low. This summary is limited to the supplied abstract and metadata; the original guideline document is required for decision-grade interpretation of the 17 recommendations and their supporting evidence.
GIDS interpretation
As a guideline published in January 2021, this document is discoverable through GIDS disease classifiers for COVID-19 and SARS, and topic classifiers for diagnostics and health policy. It represents formal expert consensus on molecular testing strategy during the pandemic's second year.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 9 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.