Sensitivity of Nasopharyngeal Swabs and Saliva for the Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.

Jamal, Alainna J; Mozafarihashjin, Mohammad; Coomes, Eric; Powis, Jeff; Li, Angel X; Paterson, Aimee; Anceva-Sami, Sofia; Barati, Shiva et al. · Clin Infect Dis · 2021

cross_sectional · Level IV

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Abstract

We enrolled 91 consecutive inpatients with COVID-19 at 6 hospitals in Toronto, Canada, and tested 1 nasopharyngeal swab/saliva sample pair from each patient using real-time RT-PCR for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Sensitivity was 89% for nasopharyngeal swabs and 72% for saliva (P = .02). Difference in sensitivity was greatest for sample pairs collected later in illness.

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