A review of nasopharyngeal swab and saliva tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection: Disease timelines, relative sensitivities, and test optimization

Marylin Roque; Kevin Proudfoot; Vadim Mathys; Sophie Yu; Natalie Krieger; Thomas Gernon; Kash Gokli; Stanley Hamilton; Colin Cook; Yuman Fong

doi:10.1002/jso.26561

A review of nasopharyngeal swab and saliva tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection: Disease timelines, relative sensitivities, and test optimization

J Surg Oncol. 2021 Sep;124(4):465-475. doi: 10.1002/jso.26561. Epub 2021 Jun 6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Engineering, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, California, USA.
² Department of Surgery, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, California, USA.
³ Department of Pathology, City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, California, USA.

Abstract

Testing is an essential part of containment of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. This review summarizes studies for SARS-CoV-2 infection and testing. Nasopharyngeal samples are best at sensitivity detection, especially in early stages of disease and in asymptomatic individuals. Current swab processing involves a 100- to 1000-fold dilution of the patient sample. Future optimization of testing should focus on using smaller volumes of viral transport media and swab designs to increase comfort and increased viral adhesion.

Keywords: COVID-19; bronchitis; pharyngitis; pneumonia; respiratory infection.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

COVID-19 / diagnosis*
COVID-19 Testing*
Humans
Nasopharynx / virology*
SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*
Saliva / virology*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Specimen Handling
Sputum / virology*
Time Factors
Viral Load