Evaluation of saliva as an alternative to standard collection for detection of SARS-CoV-2

• Author(s): Ferreira, Fernando ; Alves, Daniela ; Oliveira, Telma ; Coelho, Silvia ; Oliveira, Inês ; de Melo Alves, Paula
• Date: 2023
• Origin: Scientific Letters
• Subject(s): SARS-CoV-2; saliva; viral transport medium
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English

Description

In December 2019, in Wuhan, an outbreak of a new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) began to spread rapidly, resulting in a potentially fatal viral respiratory disease. Since August 23, 2020, more than 679 million cases of COVID-19 and nearly 6.8 million deaths have been confirmed in more than 200 countries. This, in turn, had a severe impact on public health and the world economy. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic also resulted in a shortage of viral transport medium and in the need to find different diagnostic means, such as saliva. To fill this gap in the market, a new viral transport medium was created and tested with samples collected from the nasopharynx and/or oropharynx using swabs and saliva samples. The specificity, sensitivity, and threshold cycles (Cts) of Real-Time PCR (RT-PCR) testing of the samples were compared, revealing concordant results with approximate sensitivity and specificity. Our study highlighted the need to optimize saliva sample collection and its potential use as a substitute for standard collection.