Pooled Testing

News: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued an advisory for using pooled samples for testing of COVID-19.

Facts:

• Pooled testing, also known as group testing, is a procedure where individual specimens (e.g., urine or blood) are combined into a common pool.
• If the pooled test turns out to be positive, individual samples are tested- pool de-convolution. If there’s no positive result, all individual samples in the pool are regarded as negative.
• Significance:

• Helps to reduce the cost of screening a large number of individuals for infectious diseases.
• Can also help in tracing asymptomatic cases of the disease, thereby tracking community transmission.