| Autor: |
Michael Huber, Peter Werner Schreiber, Thomas Scheier, Annette Audigé, Roberto Buonomano, Alain Rudiger, Dominique L. Braun, Gerhard Eich, Dagmar I. Keller, Barbara Hasse, Jürg Böni, Christoph Berger, Huldrych F. Günthard, Amapola Manrique, Alexandra Trkola |
| Jazyk: |
angličtina |
| Rok vydání: |
2021 |
| Předmět: |
|
| Zdroj: |
Microorganisms, Vol 9, Iss 3, p 642 (2021) |
| Druh dokumentu: |
article |
| ISSN: |
2076-2607 |
| DOI: |
10.3390/microorganisms9030642 |
| Popis: |
Rising demands for repetitive SARS-CoV-2 screens and mass testing necessitate additional test strategies. Saliva may serve as an alternative to nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) as its collection is simple, non-invasive and amenable for mass- and home testing, but its rigorous validation, particularly in children, is missing. We conducted a large-scale head-to-head comparison of SARS-CoV-2 detection by RT-PCR in saliva and NPS of 1270 adults and children reporting to outpatient test centers and an emergency unit. In total, 273 individuals were tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in either NPS or saliva. SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR results in the two specimens showed a high agreement (overall percent agreement = 97.8%). Despite lower viral loads in the saliva of both adults and children, detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva fared well compared to NPS (positive percent agreement = 92.5%). Importantly, in children, SARS-CoV-2 infections were more often detected in saliva than NPS (positive predictive value = 84.8%), underlining that NPS sampling in children can be challenging. The comprehensive parallel analysis reported here establishes saliva as a generally reliable specimen for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, with particular advantages for testing children, that is readily applicable to increase and facilitate repetitive and mass testing in adults and children. |
| Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
| Externí odkaz: |
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