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Population wide testing pooling strategy for SARS-CoV-2 detection using saliva
- Source :
- PLoS ONE, PLoS ONE, Vol 17, Iss 1, p e0263033 (2022), Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal, Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP), instacron:RCAAP
- Publication Year :
- 2022
- Publisher :
- Public Library of Science, 2022.
-
Abstract
- SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has forced frequent testing of populations. It is necessary to identify the most cost-effective strategies for the detection of COVID-19 outbreaks. Nasopharyngeal samples have been used for SARS-CoV-2 detection but require a healthcare professional to collect the sample and cause discomfort and pain to the individual. Saliva has been suggested as an appropriate fluid for the diagnosis of COVID-19. We have investigated the possibility of using pools of saliva samples to detect SARS-CoV-2 in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Two hundred and seventy-nine saliva samples were analyzed through RT-PCR of Envelope, Nucleocapsid and Open Reading Frame 1ab genes. Reproducibility assays showed an almost perfect agreement as well as high sensitivity (96.6%), specificity (96.8%), positive predicted value (96.6%), and negative predicted value (96.8%). The average Cycle Threshold of the genes detected was 29.7. No significant differences (p > 0.05) were detected when comparing the cycle threshold average of two consecutive reactions on the same positive saliva samples. Saliva samples have a higher median viral load (32.6) than in nasopharyngeal samples (28.9), although no significant differences were detected (p > 0.05). Saliva-pool samples allowed effective SARS-CoV-2 screening, with a higher sensibility (96.9%) on 10-sample pools than in 20-sample pools (87.5%). Regardless of pools size specificity was high (99.9%) and an almost perfect agreement was observed. Our strategy was successfully applied in population wide testing of more than 2000 individuals, showing that it is possible to use pooled saliva as diagnostic fluid for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
- Subjects :
- RNA viruses
Viral Diseases
Physiology
Coronaviruses
Artificial Gene Amplification and Extension
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Medical Conditions
COVID-19 Testing
Medicine and Health Sciences
Pathology and laboratory medicine
Virus Testing
Multidisciplinary
Gene Pool
Medical microbiology
Viral Load
Body Fluids
Infectious Diseases
Viruses
Medicine
Anatomy
SARS CoV 2
Pathogens
Research Article
SARS coronavirus
Science
Research and Analysis Methods
Microbiology
Sensitivity and Specificity
Specimen Handling
Extraction techniques
Diagnostic Medicine
Virology
Genetics
Humans
Saliva
Molecular Biology Techniques
Molecular Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Population Biology
SARS-CoV-2
Organisms
Viral pathogens
Biology and Life Sciences
COVID-19
Reproducibility of Results
Covid 19
Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction
RNA extraction
Microbial pathogens
Population Genetics
Viral Transmission and Infection
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 17
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....29e5976e88760e65310670a704d93a62