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. 2022 Feb;102(2):115566.
doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2021.115566. Epub 2021 Oct 2.

Evaluation of observed and unobserved self-collection of saline gargle samples for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in outpatients

Mai-Lei Woo Kinshella  1 , Peter Tilley  2 , Ghada N Al-Rawahi  2 , Jocelyn A Srigley  2 , Iryna Kayda  1 , Mitchell Canes  3 , Meghan McLennan  4 , Jeffrey N Bone  1 , Michelle Dittrick  5 , Vijay J Gadkar  6 , Linda M N Hoang  7 , David M Goldfarb  8
Affiliations

Evaluation of observed and unobserved self-collection of saline gargle samples for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in outpatients

Mai-Lei Woo Kinshella et al. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

The diagnostic sensitivity of observed and unobserved self-collected saline gargle samples for the molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2 in adults and school-aged children was evaluated against a reference standard of health care worker collected nasopharyngeal flocked swab. A total of 46 participants had a positive nasopharyngeal swab sample; of these, 10 were in the observed phase and 36 were in the unobserved phase. Only one matching saline gargle sample tested negative and this was in the unobserved phase, giving an overall sensitivity of 98%. Average viral target Ct values were higher in the saline gargle samples. RNaseP Ct values were lower in unobserved collected samples compared to observed collected samples. Unobserved self-collection of saline gargle samples is a promising outpatient testing method for COVID-19 diagnosis. The self-collection method has potential to simplify the diagnostic cycle and facilitate implementation of COVID-19 testing, particularly in settings with limited access to health care workers.

Keywords: COVID-19; Gargle; SARS-CoV-2; Self-collection.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Cycle threshold (Ct) values for E gene, RdRP and RNaseP targets in NP swab and matching saline gargle samples.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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