Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

April 7, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 Is Detectable Using Sensitive RNA Saliva Testing Days before Viral Load Reaches Detection Range of Low-Sensitivity Nasal Swab Tests

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  • [Pre-print, not peer-reviewed] A case-control study that collected twice-daily self-collected samples from household contacts of individuals recently diagnosed with a SARS-CoV-2 infection found that SARS-CoV-2 RNA was first detectable in saliva samples and subsequently detectable in samples from nasal swabs. The study found that high-sensitivity tests that use saliva can detect SARS-CoV-2 infection 1.5 to 4.5 days before than low-sensitivity tests that use nasal swabs. While early in the infection low-sensitivity tests that use nasal swabs miss SARS-CoV-2-positive individuals with very high and potentially infectious viral loads in saliva.

Savela et al. (Apr 7, 2021). SARS-CoV-2 Is Detectable Using Sensitive RNA Saliva Testing Days before Viral Load Reaches Detection Range of Low-Sensitivity Nasal Swab Tests. Pre-print downloaded Apr 7 from https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.02.21254771