Due to global shortages of flocked nasopharyngeal swabs and appropriate viral transport media during the COVID-19 pandemic, alternate diagnostic specimens for SARS-CoV-2 detection are sought. The accuracy and feasibility of saliva samples collected and transported without specialized collection devices or media were evaluated. Saliva demonstrated good concordance with paired nasopharyngeal swabs for SARS-CoV-2 detection in 67/74 cases (90.5%), though barriers to saliva collection were observed in long-term care residents and outbreak settings. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was stable in human saliva at room temperature for up to 48 h after initial specimen collection, informing appropriate transport time and conditions.

由于在 COVID-19 大流行期间全球缺乏聚集的鼻咽拭子和适当的病毒运输介质，因此需要寻找用于 SARS-CoV-2 检测的替代诊断标本。评估了在没有专门收集设备或介质的情况下收集和运输唾液样本的准确性和可行性。在 67/74 例 (90.5%) 病例中，唾液与配对鼻咽拭子检测 SARS-CoV-2 表现出良好的一致性，但在长期护理居民和疫情爆发环境中观察到唾液采集存在障碍。首次标本采集后，SARS-CoV-2 RNA 在室温下在人类唾液中稳定长达 48 小时，这为适当的运输时间和条件提供了信息。