Sensitivity of Nasopharyngeal Swabs and Saliva for the Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2
Open Access
- 25 June 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Clinical Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 72 (6), 1064-1066
- https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa848
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.Keywords
Funding Information
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (440359)
- Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship
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