February 24, 2020

Comparison of throat swabs and sputum specimens for viral nucleic acid detection in 52 cases of novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) infected pneumonia (COVID-19)

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Clinical Characteristics and Health Care Setting

• Sputum specimens appear to be more sensitive than throat swabs in detecting COVID-19, though authors do not provide estimates of positive predictive value. 

Lin et al. (Feb 23, 2020). Comparison of throat swabs and sputum specimens for viral nucleic acid detection in 52 cases of novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) infected pneumonia (COVID-19). Pre-print downloaded Feb 23 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.21.20026187