External quality assessment of SARS-CoV-2-sequencing: An ESGMD-SSM pilot trial across 15 European laboratories.
Fanny WegnerTim RoloffMichael HuberSamuel CordeyAlban RametteYannick GerthClaire BertelliMadlen StangeHelena M B Seth-SmithAlfredo MariKaroline LeuzingerLorenzo CeruttiKeith HarshmanIoannis XenariosPhilippe Le MercierPascal BittelStefan NeuenschwanderOnya OpotaJonas FuchsMarcus PanningCharlotte MichelMarie HallinThomas DemuyserRicardo De MendoncaPaul SavelkoulJozef DingemansBrian M J W van der VeerStefan A BoersEric C J ClaasJordy P M CoolenWillem J G MelchersMarianne GunellTeemu KallonenTytti VuorinenAntti J HakanenEva BernhoffMarit Andrea Klokkhammer HetlandHadar Golan BermanSheera AdarJacob Moran-GiladDana G WolfStephen L LeibOliver NolteLaurent KaiserStefan SchmutzVerena KufnerMaryam ZaheriAlexandra TrkolaHege Vangstein AamotHans H HirschGilbert GreubAdrian EgliPublished in: Journal of clinical microbiology (2021)
The pilot EQA was an overall success. It was able to show the high quality of participating labs and provide valuable feedback in cases where problems occurred, thereby improving the sequencing setup of laboratories. A larger follow-up EQA should, however, improve on defining the variables and format of the report. Additionally, contamination and/or minority variants should be a further aspect of assessment.