Low-cost high-throughput targeted sequencing for the accurate detection of respiratory tract pathogens.

Introduction: The current gold standard for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnosis by real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is limited by the number of genes that can be detected. In this study, we developed a low-cost and high-throughput next-generation sequencing technology that can overcome the limitations of real time RT-PCR.

Methodology: A targeted sequencing panel (TSP) consisting of approximately 500 amplicons was designed.