Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 molecular detection in nasopharyngeal swab, saliva, and gargle samples

Gustavo Genelhoud; Douglas Adamoski; Regiane Nogueira Spalanzani; Lucas Bochnia-Bueno; Jaqueline Carvalho de Oliveira; Daniela Fiori Gradia; Ana Cláudia Bonatto; Roseli Wassem; Sonia Mara Raboni; Meri Bordignon Nogueira; Patricia Savio de Araujo-Souza

doi:10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2022.115678

Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 molecular detection in nasopharyngeal swab, saliva, and gargle samples

Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2022 Jun;103(2):115678. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2022.115678. Epub 2022 Mar 10.

Affiliations

¹ Post-graduation Program in Genetics, Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil; Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.
² Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil; Present affiliation: Brazilian Biosciences National Laboratory (LNBio), Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), Campinas, Brazil. Electronic address: douglas.adamoski@gmail.com.
³ Laboratory of Virology, Hospital de Clínicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.
⁴ Post-graduation Program in Genetics, Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.
⁶ Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil; Laboratory of Immunogenetics and Histocompatibility (LIGH), Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, Brazil.

Abstract

The nasopharyngeal swab is a gold standard for detecting SARS-CoV-2. However, the inconvenience of this method compelled us to compare its efficiency with saliva and gargle samples, which we collected sequentially from 229 individuals. Saliva outperformed gargle samples, constituting a reliable RNA viral source with similar performance to nasopharyngeal samples.

Keywords: Detection; Gargle; RT-PCR; SARS-CoV-2; Saliva.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / diagnosis
Humans
Mouthwashes
Nasopharynx
RNA, Viral / genetics
SARS-CoV-2* / genetics
Saliva
Specimen Handling / methods

Substances

Mouthwashes
RNA, Viral