Equivalent SARS-CoV-2 viral loads by PCR between nasopharyngeal swab and saliva in symptomatic patients

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 4500 - 4
• Main Authors: Yokota, Isao, Hattori, Takeshi, Shane, Peter Y., Konno, Satoshi, Nagasaka, Atsushi, Takeyabu, Kimihiro, Fujisawa, Shinichi, Nishida, Mutsumi, Teshima, Takanori
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 24.02.2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/1647/2234; 631/326/596/4130; 692/699/255; Adult; COVID-19; COVID-19 - diagnosis; COVID-19 - virology; COVID-19 Testing - methods; Diagnostic Tests, Routine - methods; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Male; Medical personnel; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Nasopharynx - virology; Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; RNA, Viral - genetics; Saliva; Saliva - virology; SARS-CoV-2 - genetics; SARS-CoV-2 - isolation & purification; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Specimen Handling - methods; Viral Load - methods

Emerging evidences have shown the utility of saliva for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 by PCR as alternative to nasopharyngeal swab (NPS). However, conflicting results have been reported regarding viral loads between NPS and saliva. We conducted a study to compare the viral loads between NPS and saliva...