SARS-COV-2 detection in saliva and nasopharyngeal swabs using RT-PCR was similar

OBJECTIVES Access to readily available, reliable, and easy-to-use coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests remains critical, despite great vaccination progress. Universal back-to-school testing offered at early care and education ([ECE]; ie, preschool) sites to screen for positive cases may help preschoolers safely return to, and stay in, ECE. We examined the acceptability and feasibility of using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 saliva test for young children (n = 227, 54.0% girls: mean age = 52.3 ± 8.1 months) and their caregivers (n = 70 teachers: mean = 36.6 ± 14.7 years; n = 227 parents: mean = 35.5 ± 9.1 years) to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and reduce days of school and work missed for households with children who test positive. METHODS Participants were recruited at ECE sites serving low-income communities as part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostic Testing–Underserved Populations Back to Early Care and Education Safely with Sustainability via Active Garden Education project (NCT05178290). RESULTS Surveys in English or Spanish administered at testing events to children and caregivers at ECE sites showed child and adult acceptability and feasibility ratings were generally high. More favorable child and parent ratings were positively associated with child age and whether the child was able to produce a saliva sample. Language preference was not associated with any outcomes. CONCLUSIONS Saliva sampling for COVID-19 at ECE sites is an acceptable strategy as an additional layer of protection for 4- and 5-year-olds; however, alternate testing strategies may be needed for younger children.

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Improving the detection capability and efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 RNA specimens by the specimen turn-around process with multi-department cooperation

Liu,

Shen,

Xie

et al. 2024

Front. Public Health

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ObjectiveImproving the detection capability and efficiency of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA specimens is very important for the prevention and control of the outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, we evaluated the detection capability and efficiency of two outbreaks of COVID-19 before and after the process re-engineering in April and July 2022.MethodsThis retrospective cross-sectional study involved 359,845 SARS-CoV-2 RNA specimens 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after the two outbreaks of COVID-19 in April and July. The number, transportation time and detection time of specimens, and the number of reports of more than 24 h were analyzed by SPSS software.ResultsWhile 16.84% of people chose nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) specimens, 83.16% chose oropharyngeal swabs (OPS) specimens to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA. There were significant upward trends in the percentage of 10 sample pooling (P-10) from April before process re-engineering to July after process re-engineering (p < 0.001). Compared with April, the number of specimens in July increased significantly not only 2 weeks before but also 2 weeks after the outbreak of COVID-19, with an increase of 35.46 and 93.94%, respectively. After the process re-engineering, the number of reports more than 24 h in the 2 weeks before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 in July was significantly lower than that in April before process re-engineering (0% vs. 0.06% and 0 vs. 0.89%, both p < 0.001).ConclusionThe present study shows that strengthening the cooperation of multi-departments in process re-engineering, especially using the P-10 strategy and whole process informatization can improve the detection capability and efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 RNA specimens.

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SARS-COV-2 detection in saliva and nasopharyngeal swabs using RT-PCR was similar

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

Salivary SARS-CoV-2 RNA for diagnosis of COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy

Salivary SARS-CoV-2 RNA for diagnosis of COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy

Acceptability and Feasibility of Saliva-delivered PCR Coronavirus 2019 Tests for Young Children

Improving the detection capability and efficiency of SARS-CoV-2 RNA specimens by the specimen turn-around process with multi-department cooperation

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