2024 · African journal of infectious diseases · open access
MOLECULAR DETECTION PROTOCOL OF SARS-COV-2 THROUGH SELF-COLLECTED SALIVA SPECIMENS VERSUS NASOPHARYNGEAL SWABS
Abderezak et al.
The finding, in our words
Self-collected saliva for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR showed high sensitivity and specificity with an overall agreement of 84% compared with nasopharyngeal swabs, supporting its use as a viable diagnostic option where laboratory facilities are limited.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Self-collected saliva and mid-turbinate nasal swabs showed greater than 95 per cent positive agreement with nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 detection in children when collected within ten days of symptom onset, dropping to 82 per cent for later or asymptomatic cases. This validates less invasive, patient-centric sampling for decentralised diagnostics in pediatric populations.
Vos et al., Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine (paywalled) · source ↗
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.
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.
Hernandez et al., Journal of medical virology · source ↗
Parent-collected nasal swabs from children with respiratory infections showed 91% sensitivity and excellent agreement with nurse-collected samples for detecting viral and bacterial pathogens by PCR, whereas parent-collected saliva swabs were substantially less sensitive at 69% for viruses and 78% for bacteria. This supports decentralised paediatric diagnosis using nasal self-sampling, reducing healthcare burden while maintaining accuracy.
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 ↗