Saliva as testing sample for SARS-CoV-2 detection by RT-PCR in low prevalence community setting.

Gavars, D.; Gavars, M.; Perminovs, D.; Stasulans, J.; Stana, J.; Metla, Z.; Pavare, J.; Tauckels, E.; Gulbis, E.; Dumpis, U.

The aim of our study was to demonstrate that saliva can be used as an effective material for SARS-CoV-2 testing and screening of large population groups to identify Covid-19 clusters. The most important aspect of saliva sampling approach is the convenience of obtaining material by self- sampling that is even possible at home. In our experiments, saliva was sufficiently stable for testing for at least 24 hours after collection. The results obtained from the saliva of a SARS-CoV-2 positive patient were consistent with those obtained from nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs from the same patient with the sensitivity 90% and specificity 100% during the first two weeks after the onset of symptoms. To demonstrate the usefulness of testing saliva material for mass screening, crowd sampling with pooling was performed on 3660 people in 3-day time (44 samples were tested positive). We conclude that saliva testing is an appropriate tool for screening campaigns and cluster detection, that is able to detect more infected people in a shorter period of time with little human resources and thus help to stop the epidemic spread more quickly.