Saliva samples in SARS-Cov-2 virus detection compared to the nasopharyngeal RT-PCR findings in individuals with suspected COVID-19 infection

Accurate and cost-effective testing for SARS-CoV-2 is an ongoing need in public health. Nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) samples have been the benchmark as testing material but there are challenges connected to sample collection. We examined the usability of saliva as sample material for high-throughput laboratory molecular testing for SARS-CoV-2. Saliva samples from 108 individuals with suspected acute SARS-CoV-2 infection were collected and tested with cobas® SARS-CoV-2 and cobas® SARS-CoV-2 Duo tests (both Roche Molecular Diagnostics) to detect SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acids and compared to findings from NPS samples. Both cobas® tests performed well for saliva samples with 96 % positive percent agreement for both tests, 98 % negative percent agreement for cobas® SARS-CoV-2 test, and 100 % negative percent agreement for cobas® SARS-CoV-2 Duo test when compared to NPS samples. Saliva is a potential sample material for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection in adult outpatients and can be considered as sample material to conserve health care resources.