Nutritional Advice El Mondo
Objectives:
Nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs are considered the highest-yield sample for diagnostic testing for respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. The need to increase capacity for SARS-CoV-2 testing in a variety of settings, combined with shortages of sample collection supplies, have motivated a search for alternative sample types with high sensitivity. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.
What is the sensitivity of alternative specimen types [saliva, oropharyngeal (OP) and nasal (NS) swabs] versus nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs for COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnosis using nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT)?
Study design:
This review article included 25 saliva, 11 nasal (NS), 6 oropharyngeal (OP) and 4 OP/NS studies.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found 3 specimen types captured lower % positives [NS: 82%, 95% CI = 73% to 90%, OP: 84%, 95% CI = 57% to 100% and saliva [88%, 95% CI = 81% to 93%] than nasopharyngeal swabs, while combined OP/NS matched nasopharyngeal performance [97%, 95% CI = 90% to 100%].
The investigators found absence of RNA extraction (saliva) and utilization of a more sensitive NAAT (NS) substantially decreased alternative-specimen yield.
The investigators concluded nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs remain the gold standard for diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, although alternative specimens are promising. Much remains unknown about the impact of variations in specimen collection, processing protocols and population (pediatric vs. adult, late vs. early in disease course) and head-to head studies of sampling strategies are urgently needed.
Original title:
Performance of Saliva, Oropharyngeal Swabs, and Nasal Swabs for SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Detection: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis by Lee RA, Herigon JC, […], Denkinger CM.
Link:
https://jcm.asm.org/content/early/2021/01/26/JCM.02881-20.long
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on coronavirus right here.