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Comparison of Mid-turbinate Nasal Swabs, Saliva, and Nasopharyngeal Swabs for SARS-CoV-2 Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing in Pediatric Outpatients
- Source :
- Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. September, 2022, Vol. 146 Issue 9, p1056, 6 p.
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- * Context.--Diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 in symptomatic and asymptomatic children remains integral to care, particularly for supporting return to and attendance in schools. The concordance of SARS-CoV-2 detection in children, using various specimen types, has not been widely studied. Objective.--To compare 3 sample types for SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in children, collected and tested at a single facility. Design.--We prospectively recruited 142 symptomatic and asymptomatic children/young adults into a sample comparison study performed in a single health care system. Each child provided self-collected saliva, and a trained health care provider collected a mid-turbinate nasal swab and nasopharyngeal (NP) swab. Specimens were assayed within 24 hours of collection by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect SARS-CoV-2 on a single testing platform. Results.--Concurrently collected saliva and mid-turbinate swabs had greater than 95% positive agreement with NP swabs when obtained within 10 days of symptom onset. Positive agreement of saliva and mid-turbinate samples collected from children with symptom onset >10 days prior, or without symptoms, was 82% compared to NP swab samples. Cycle threshold (Ct) values for mid-turbinate nasal samples more closely correlated with Ct values from NP samples than from saliva samples. Conclusions.--These findings suggest that all 3 sample types from children are useful for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing by RT-PCR, and that concordance is greatest when the child has had symptoms of COVID-19 within the past 10 days. This study provides scientific justification for using sample types other than the NP swab for SARS-CoV-2 testing in pediatric populations. (Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2022;146:1056-1061; doi: 10.5858/arpa.2021-0625-SA)<br />A pandemic provides a unique setting upon which the basic tenets of laboratory medicine are challenged. Specimen collection for SARS-CoV-2 is one such example, for which validation studies, which are [...]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 15432165
- Volume :
- 146
- Issue :
- 9
- Database :
- Gale General OneFile
- Journal :
- Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsgcl.717494109
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.5858/arpa.2021-0625-SA