Saliva as a Potential Diagnostic Specimen for COVID-19 Testing

Area of Science:

• Virology
• Infectious Diseases
• Diagnostic Medicine

Background:

• The global COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, necessitates widespread and effective diagnostic testing.
• Current World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection involve nasopharyngeal (NP) and oropharyngeal (OP) swabs analyzed via real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR).

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the existing literature on alternative diagnostic specimens for COVID-19.
• To evaluate the potential of saliva as a viable specimen for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection using rRT-PCR.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies investigating SARS-CoV-2 detection in various human specimens.
• Analysis of data comparing the efficacy and practicality of saliva-based rRT-PCR with NP and OP swab methods.

Main Results:

• The SARS-CoV-2 virus is consistently detected in saliva specimens.
• Saliva-based rRT-PCR demonstrates comparable or superior performance to NP/OP swabs in some studies.
• Saliva self-collection offers advantages including reduced risk to healthcare workers and cost-effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• Saliva is emerging as a highly promising diagnostic specimen for COVID-19 testing.
• The use of saliva for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection via rRT-PCR presents significant advantages for widespread screening and diagnosis.