Nasopharyngeal Samples Management Strategy During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experience of the Pasteur Institute of Côte d'Ivoire (2020)

Medical testing laboratories are an essential link in the efficient management of infectious diseases by the identification of the pathogens involved. However, the arrangements for their operation may appear more difficult in times of health crises and raise multiple issues that may compromise the usual level of quality assurance of biological analyses and the response to needs. The smooth running and control of laboratory activities in a health crisis situation requires the implementation of a management system that allows the federation of all available energies. We report here on the experience of the Pasteur Institute of Côte d'Ivoire, in charge of nasopharyngeal samples management during the COVID 19 pandemic, describing the assessment of pre-analytical activities in the first quarter of the crisis (March to May 2020). We then present the implemented strategy and the results obtained from June to September 2020. This article proposes a framework for sharing experiences to contribute to a better preparation of the pre-analytical phase of laboratory samples during health crises.