THE ROLE OF POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION EXAMINATION IN EFFECTING DIAGNOSIS OF COVID-19 PATIENTS

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2). Severe cases of COVID-19 can lead to pneumonia, acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and death. The first case was reported in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, on March 11, 2020, WHO declared COVID-19 as pandemic. WHO recommends RT-PCR examinations for all patients suspected were infected with COVID-19 and becomes the gold standard  for COVID-19 diagnostic tests in Indonesia. To get an overview of the role of PCR examinations in diagnosing COVID-19 patients in South Sulawesi.

This research is a descriptive study by taking data on PCR COVID-19 results from laboratory networks in South Sulawesi from May - July 2020. During May - July 2020, the total number of PCR examinations from the seven network laboratories in South Sulawesi was 143,518. in BBLK, there were 59591 samples, then Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital 14140 and Microbiology Laboratory of Unhas Hospital 20734l. The postponement of PCR examinations occurred in June and July. In June, BBLK Makassar reported 1698 investigations, BBVET Maros 175, BPOM Makassar 161. In July, BTKL Makassar reported 309 PCR examinations and 112 Soppeng Healthcare Lab. PCR examination is the gold standard for diagnosing COVID-19.