Singer and wife of Anang Hermansyah, Ashanty, tested positive for COVID-19 after undergoing the SGTF PCR test. The search for what SGTF PCR is and whether it can really detect the omicron variant is increasingly being carried out by netizens after that.
Amid increasing concerns about the Omicron variant, scientists created a new detection method namely SGTF PCR. SGTF PCR is genome sequencing of positive samples using an RT-PCR kit that uses the 'S' Gene Target Failure (SGTF) strategy to detect variants. Quoting the New Indian Express, Friday (1/7/2021) Krishna Khairnar, one of the researchers in the field of COVID-19 diagnosis in India, said this test targets various genes from the virus so that there will be many variants that can be revealed.
In the case of the Omicron variant, the 'S' gene was not detected in the Thermofisher RT-PCR assay due to mutations in the gene, whereas other target genes such as the ORF gene and the N gene were detected.
"The incident is referred to as a positive case of 'S' Gene Target Failure (SGTF). The sample can be presumably reported as positive Omicron," said Khairnar.
Khairnar further informed that the SGTF strategy focuses on taking positive samples where the results of the RT-PCR test show negative 'S' gene results, but positive ORF and N genes. The SGTF strategy will serve as a kind of early detection at the RT-PCR stage. In doing so, Khairnar believes this will help in screening positive samples for the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
However, both RT-PCR followed by genome sequencing will help early detection of Omicron cases, he said.
Previously, Head of the Public Communications Division of the COVID-19 Task Force Hery Trianto confirmed that Ashanty was positive for COVID-19 through the S-gene target failure (SGTF) test. The SGTF test is generally used to show indications or possible exposure to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
