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. 2021 Sep 21;326(11):1065-1067.
doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.13967.

Change in Saliva RT-PCR Sensitivity Over the Course of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Zion Congrave-Wilson  1 , Yesun Lee  1 , Jaycee Jumarang  1 , Stephanie Perez  1 , Jeffrey M Bender  2 , Jennifer Dien Bard  3 , Pia S Pannaraj  2
Affiliations

Change in Saliva RT-PCR Sensitivity Over the Course of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Zion Congrave-Wilson et al. JAMA. .

Abstract

This study investigates the timeframe that optimizes saliva sensitivity for SARS-CoV-2 detection using reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Pannaraj reported receiving consultant fees from Sanofi-Pasteur and Seqirus, research funding from Pfizer and AstraZeneca for unrelated studies, and grants from MedImmune. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.. Saliva Sensitivity by Collection Timing After COVID-19 Onset Overall and in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Individuals
Saliva sensitivity in all 524 nasopharyngeal-positive paired samples from 256 participants (A) and participants who were symptomatic vs asymptomatic at time of specimen collection (B) grouped by collection timing after COVID-19 onset, defined as the earliest of either first symptom or first reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction positivity. Error bars indicate 95% CIs.
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