Description
Pooled testing is an established strategy for efficient surveillance testing of infectious diseases with low-prevalence. Pooled testing works by combining clinical samples from multiple individuals into one test, where a negative result indicates the whole pool is disease free and a positive result indicates that individual testing is needed. Here we present a straightforward and simple method for pooled testing that uses the properties of Hadamard matrices to design optimal pooling strategies. We show that this method can be used to efficiently identify positive specimens in large sample sizes by simple pattern matching, without the requirement of complex algorithms. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.
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