ABSTRACT

Background: SARS-CoV-2 quickly spreads in the worldwide population, imposing social restrictions to control the infection, being the massive testing another essential strategy to break the chain of transmission.

Aim: To compare the performance of at-home self-collected samples – saliva and combined nasal-oropharyngeal swabs (NOP) – for SARS-CoV-2 detection in a telemedicine platform for COVID-19 surveillance.

Material and methods: We analyzed 201 patients who met the criteria of suspected COVID-19. NOP sampling was combined (nostrils and oropharynx) and saliva collected using a cotton pad device. Detection of SARS-COV-2 was performed by using the Altona RealStar® SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Kit 1.0. 

Results: There was an overall significant agreement (κ coefficient value of 0.58) between saliva and NOP. Considering results in either sample, 70 patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 were identified, with 52/70 being positive in NOP and 55/70 in saliva. This corresponds to sensitivities of 74.2% (95% CI; 63.7% to 83.1%) for NOP and 78.6% (95% CI; 67.6% to 86.6%) for saliva.

Conclusion: Our data show the feasibility of using at-home self-collected samples (especially saliva), as an adequate alternative for SARS-CoV-2 detection. This new approach of testing can be useful to develop strategies for COVID-19 surveillance and for guiding public health decisions.

摘要

背景：SARS-CoV-2在全球人口中迅速传播，强加了控制感染的社会限制，这是对打破传播链的另一项重要策略的大规模测试。

目的：比较在家自我收集的样本（唾液和鼻咽拭子组合（NOP））在用于COVID-19监视的远程医疗平台中检测SARS-CoV-2的性能。

材料和方法：我们分析了201名符合可疑COVID-19标准的患者。合并NOP采样（鼻孔和口咽），并使用棉垫装置收集唾液。SARS-COV-2的检测是通过使用AltonaRealStar®SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Kit 1.0进行的。 

结果：唾液和NOP之间存在总体显着一致性（κ系数值为0.58）。考虑到两个样本的结果，确定了70例SARS-CoV-2阳性患者，其中NOP阳性52/70，唾液中55/70。这对应于NOP的敏感性为74.2％（95％CI； 63.7％至83.1％），唾液的敏感性为78.6％（95％CI； 67.6％至86.6％）。

结论：我们的数据表明，使用在家自行收集的样本（尤其是唾液）作为SARS-CoV-2检测的适当替代方法的可行性。这种新的测试方法对于制定COVID-19监视策略和指导公共卫生决策很有用。