Testing efforts for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been burdened by the scarcity of testing materials and personal protective equipment for health care workers. The simple and painless process of saliva collection allows for widespread testing, but enthusiasm is hampered by variable performance compared to that of nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) samples. We prospectively collected paired NPS and saliva samples from a total of 300 unique adult and pediatric patients. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 32.2% (97/300) of the individuals using the TaqPath COVID-19 Combo kit (Thermo Fisher). Performance of saliva and NPS was compared against the total number of positives regardless of specimen type. The overall concordances for saliva and NPS were 91.0% (273/300) and 94.7% (284/300), respectively. The values for positive percent agreement (PPA) for saliva and NPS were 81.4% (79/97) and 89.7% (87/97), respectively. Saliva yielded detection of 10 positive cases that were negative by NPS. For symptomatic and asymptomatic pediatric patients not previously diagnosed with COVID-19, the performances of saliva and NPS were comparable (PPA, 82.4% versus 85.3%). The overall values for PPA for adults were 83.3% and 90.7% for saliva and NPS, respectively, with saliva yielding detection of 4 fewer cases than NPS. However, saliva performance for symptomatic adults was identical to NPS performance (PPA of 93.8%). With lower cost and self-collection capabilities, saliva can be an appropriate sample choice alternative to NPS for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in children and adults.

中文翻译：

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唾液是检测儿童和成人SARS-CoV-2的有希望的替代标本

严重的急性呼吸系统综合症冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）的测试工作因缺乏用于卫生保健工作者的测试材料和个人防护设备而受累。唾液收集的简单而无痛的过程可以进行广泛的测试，但是与鼻咽拭子（NPS）样品相比，其性能受到各种性能的影响。我们前瞻性地从总共300名独特的成年和儿科患者中收集了配对的NPS和唾液样本。使用TaqPath COVID-19组合试剂盒（Thermo Fisher），在32.2％（97/300）的个体中检测到SARS-CoV-2 RNA。无论样本类型如何，都将唾液和NPS的表现与阳性总数进行比较。唾液和NPS的总体一致性分别为91.0％（273/300）和94.7％（284/300）。唾液和NPS的阳性一致性百分比（PPA）值分别为81.4％（79/97）和89.7％（87/97）。唾液可检测出10例NPS阴性的阳性病例。对于以前未诊断出COVID-19的有症状和无症状的儿科患者，唾液和NPS的表现相当（PPA，82.4％对85.3％）。成人唾液和NPS的PPA总值分别为83.3％和90.7％，与NPS相比，唾液检出的病例少4例。但是，有症状成人的唾液表现与NPS表现相同（PPA为93.8％）。唾液可以以较低的成本和自我收集的能力成为NPS的合适样本选择，以检测儿童和成人中的SARS-CoV-2。分别。唾液可检测出10例NPS阴性的阳性病例。对于以前未诊断出COVID-19的有症状和无症状的儿科患者，唾液和NPS的表现相当（PPA，分别为82.4％和85.3％）。成人唾液和NPS的PPA总值分别为83.3％和90.7％，与NPS相比，唾液检出的病例少4例。但是，有症状成人的唾液表现与NPS表现相同（PPA为93.8％）。唾液可以以较低的成本和自我收集的能力成为NPS的合适样本选择，以检测儿童和成人中的SARS-CoV-2。分别。唾液可检测出10例NPS阴性的阳性病例。对于以前未诊断出COVID-19的有症状和无症状的儿科患者，唾液和NPS的表现相当（PPA，分别为82.4％和85.3％）。成人唾液和NPS的PPA总值分别为83.3％和90.7％，与NPS相比，唾液检出的病例少4例。但是，有症状成人的唾液表现与NPS表现相同（PPA为93.8％）。唾液可以以较低的成本和自我收集的能力成为NPS的合适样本选择，以检测儿童和成人中的SARS-CoV-2。唾液和NPS的表现相当（PPA，分别为82.4％和85.3％）。成人唾液和NPS的PPA总值分别为83.3％和90.7％，与NPS相比，唾液检出的病例少4例。但是，有症状成人的唾液表现与NPS表现相同（PPA为93.8％）。唾液可以以较低的成本和自我收集的能力成为NPS的合适样本选择，以检测儿童和成人中的SARS-CoV-2。唾液和NPS的表现相当（PPA，分别为82.4％和85.3％）。成人唾液和NPS的PPA总值分别为83.3％和90.7％，与NPS相比，唾液检出的病例少4例。但是，有症状成人的唾液表现与NPS表现相同（PPA为93.8％）。唾液可以以较低的成本和自我收集的能力成为NPS的合适样本选择，以检测儿童和成人中的SARS-CoV-2。