Food for thought: Eating before saliva collection and interference with SARS-CoV-2 detection
Hernandez et al.
The finding, in our words
Saliva self-collected by children within minutes of eating showed reduced SARS-CoV-2 detection for over half of foods tested, but a 20-minute waiting period restored accurate results in nearly all cases. This provides evidence that fasting is unnecessary for decentralised viral testing, offering a practical protocol for home collection.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
In 1580 paired samples from children aged 3–17 years, saliva self-collection detected SARS-CoV-2 with 84.6% sensitivity compared with nasopharyngeal swabs, and identified eight infections missed by swabs alone. This less invasive approach offers a feasible alternative for decentralised diagnosis of COVID-19 in paediatric populations.
Self-collected saline gargle samples detected SARS-CoV-2 with 98 per cent sensitivity compared with nasopharyngeal swabs, outperforming saliva at 79 per cent, and viral RNA remained stable for two days at room temperature. Gargle samples also received the highest acceptability scores among participants aged 4 to 71 years, supporting their use as a swab-independent alternative for outpatient and paediatric COVID-19 diagnosis.
Goldfarb et al., Journal of clinical microbiology · source ↗
Oral sponge saliva RT-PCR achieved 95% sensitivity and 95% specificity compared with nasopharyngeal swabs in 3,488 symptomatic and asymptomatic adults, while buccal swab performance varied with infection history and symptoms. The rapid antigen test showed 66.9% sensitivity overall, increasing to 97% in high viral load samples. Oral sponge collection permits self-sampling without laboratory pre-analytical steps, offering a robust method for decentralised SARS-CoV-2 screening.
Althaus et al., BMC infectious diseases · source ↗
Saliva-based RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 achieved 100 per cent sensitivity and 97 per cent specificity against nasopharyngeal swabs, while rapid antigen testing on saliva showed comparable performance and detected 97 per cent of infectious cases with cycle threshold values of 30 or below. This supports saliva self-collection as an accurate, practical option for decentralised COVID-19 screening.
Sultana et al., Diagnostic microbiology and infectious disease (paywalled) · source ↗
A validated LC-MS/MS assay successfully measured 13 steroid hormones and two synthetic steroids in saliva, requiring only 50 microlitres, or down to 2 to 5 microlitres for nine analytes. This shows saliva's viability for non-invasive, patient-centric microsampling and decentralised monitoring in paediatric, neonatal and adult populations.
Dahl et al., Scandinavian journal of clinical and laboratory investigation (paywalled) · source ↗