{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,2]],"date-time":"2026-02-02T21:46:18Z","timestamp":1770068778742,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,21]],"date-time":"2022-09-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1663718400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001713","name":"European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["RIA2020EF-3000"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RIA2020EF-3000"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001713","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\"><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is a global threat affecting 210 countries, with 2,177,469 confirmed cases and 6.67% case fatality rate as of April 16, 2020. In Africa, 17,243 cases have been confirmed, but many remain undiagnosed due to limited laboratory-capacity, suboptimal performance of used molecular-assays (~30% false negative, Yu<jats:italic>et al<\/jats:italic>. and Zhao<jats:italic>et al<\/jats:italic>., 2020) and limited WHO-recommended rapid-tests.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec002\"><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>We aim to implement measures to minimize risks for COVID-19 in Cameroon, putting together multidisciplinary highly-experienced virologists, immunologists, bioinformaticians and clinicians, to achieve the following objectives: (a) to integrate\/improve available-infrastructure, methodologies, and expertise on COVID-19. For this purpose, we will create a platform enabling researchers\/clinicians to better integrate and translate evidence into the COVID-19 clinical-practice; (b) to enhance capacities in Cameroon for screening\/detecting individuals with high-risks of COVID-19, by setting-up effective core-facilities on-site; (c) to validate point-of-care SARS-CoV-2 molecular assays allowing same-day result delivery, thus permitting timely diagnosis, treatment, and retention in care of COVID-19 patients; (d) to implement SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis with innovative\/highly sensitive ddPCR-based assays and viral genetic characterization; (e) to validate serological assays to identify COVID-19-exposed persons and follow-up of convalescents.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec003\"><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This is a prospective, observational study conducted among COVID-19 suspects\/contacts during 24 months in Cameroon. Following consecutive sampling of 1,536 individuals, oro\/nasopharyngeal swabs and sera will be collected. Well characterised biorepositories will be established locally; molecular testing will be performed on conventional real-time qPCR, point-of-care GeneXpert, antigen-tests and digital droplet PCR (ddPCR); SARS-CoV2 amplicons will be sequenced; serological testing will be performed using ELISA, and antibody-based kits. Sensitivity, specificity, positive- and negative-predictive values will be evaluated.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec id=\"sec004\"><jats:title>Expected outcomes<\/jats:title><jats:p>These efforts will contribute in creating the technical and clinical environment to facilitate earlier detection of Sars-CoV-2 in Africa in general and in Cameroon in particular. Specifically, the goals will be: (a) to implement technology transfer for capacity-building on conventional and point-of-care molecular assays, achieving a desirable performance for clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV2; (b) to integrate\/improve the available infrastructure, methodologies, and expertise on Sars-CoV2 detection; (c) to improve the turn-around-time for diagnosing COVID-19 infection with obvious advantage for patients\/clinical management thanks to low-cost assays, thus permitting timely treatment and retention in care; (d) to assess the epidemiology of COVID-19 and circulating-variants in Cameroon as compared to strains found in other countries.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0273818","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,21]],"date-time":"2022-09-21T17:34:21Z","timestamp":1663781661000},"page":"e0273818","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Diagnostic performance of molecular and serological tests of SARS-CoV-2 on well-characterised specimens from COVID-19 individuals: The EDCTP \"PERFECT-study\" protocol (RIA2020EF-3000)"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1501-2763","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Joseph","family":"Fokam","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Claudia","family":"Alteri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luna","family":"Colagrossi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anne-Marie","family":"Genevieve","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"D\u00e9sir\u00e9","family":"Takou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alexis","family":"Ndjolo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vittorio","family":"Colizzi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nicaise","family":"Ndembi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Carlo-Federico","family":"Perno","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,9,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0273818.ref001","unstructured":"The Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Emergency Response Epidemiology Team. 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