Assessment of Saliva Specimens' Reliability for COVID-19 Surveillance

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Biancamaria Pierri¹  Maria Tafuro¹  Maria Concetta Cuomo¹  Denise Di Concilio¹  Lucia Vassallo¹  Andrea Pierri¹  Amedeo Ferro¹  Giuseppe Rofrano¹  Alfonso Gallo¹  Antonio Di Stasio¹  Andrea Mancusi²  Lydia Galdi¹  Annachiara Coppola¹  Carlo Buonerba¹  Luigi Atripaldi³  Pellegrino Cerino¹ 

[1] Centro di Referenza Nazionale per l'analisi e studio di correlazione tra ambiente, animale e uomo, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno;Department of Food Microbiology, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno;Cotugno Hospital, Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale Ospedali dei Colli

关键词: SARS-CoV-2;    saliva;    nasopharyngeal swab;    real-time RT-PCR;    COVID-19 screening;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2022.840996

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The aim of the present study is to assess saliva as a reliable specimen for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) detection by real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR), especially in community mass screening programs. The performance analysis considered 1,221 total samples [nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs and corresponding saliva], tested by means of a reference diagnostic real-time RT-PCR assay. Conflicting results were further investigated with a second, more sensitive, reference assay. Analysis of agreement showed a good concordance (95.82%), with a k coefficient value of.74 ( p < 0.001); moreover, a follow-up analysis revealed the presence of viral gene targets in saliva samples at the time point the corresponding NP swabs turned negative. Data obtained prove the reliability of this alternative biofluid for SARS-CoV-2 detection in real-time RT-PCR. Considering the role of saliva in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission and pathogenesis, and the advantages in the use of salivary diagnostics, the present validation supports the use of saliva as an optimal choice in large-scale population screening and monitoring of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

【 授权许可】

CC BY