OBSERVATION OF AUTOMATED MANAGEMENT USE OF SELF-SAMPLING KITS

In the current times of ever-growing prevalence of infectious diseases, it is requisite to explore ways to provide the safest and most effective medical care for our patients. The aim of this study is to explain how the issues raised by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic were addressed by the E. Gulbis Laboratory in Latvia. The study looks back on the goal to introduce an automated and effective solution for the management of self-collected samples. The study is primarily aimed to formulate the conclusions about the data and use of automation in the self-sample kit collection. Results were collected from 18 automated (contactless) sample collection devices used by E. Gulbis Laboratory. Sixty-four thousand two hundred fifty-seven (64,257) saliva kits for SARSCoV- 2 PCR testing were employed. It was found that 3.92% of them were positive (SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA found in saliva sample). The average processing time in automated devices located in the capital city was 11.13 hours, in the suburbs - 15.52 hours, rest of the country - 17.60 hours. The average age of patients that choose an automatic device to hand in their saliva sample kits was 33.94 years. These results suggest that by using the automated device, patient contacts are decreased, and direct communication with medical staff is excluded, which reduces the risk of infection during processing. Automated devices make sample kit distribution available 24 hours. They save workforce resources in the laboratory that are already very limited, especially during a pandemic period.