{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T17:07:27Z","timestamp":1790788047928,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,22]],"date-time":"2021-11-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637539200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,22]],"date-time":"2021-11-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637539200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sci Rep"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Scaling up of diagnostic capacity is needed to mitigate the global pandemic of SARS-CoV2. However, there are challenges including shortage of sample collection swabs and transport medium. Saliva has been recommended as a simple, low-cost, non-invasive option. However, data from different populations and settings are limited. Here, we showed that saliva could be a good alternative sample to diagnose COVID-19 patients. Pair of NPS-saliva samples was collected from 152 symptomatic; confirmed COVID-19 patients, and compared their positivity rate, viral load, and duration of viral shedding. From 152 patients, 80 (52.63%) tested positive and 72 (47.37%) were negative for SARSA-CoV2 in NPS sample. In saliva, 129 (92.14%) were tested positive and 11 (7.86%) were negative on the day of admission to hospital. The overall percent agreement of RT-PCR result of Saliva to NPS was 70% (196\/280). A comparison of viral load from 72 NPS-saliva pair samples on day of admission shows saliva contains significantly higher viral load (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.001). In conclusion, saliva has higher yield in detecting SARS-CoV2, and COVID-19 patients show higher viral load and prolonged period of viral shedding in saliva. Therefore, we recommend saliva as a better alternative sample to NPS to diagnose COVID-19 patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-02097-2","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,22]],"date-time":"2021-11-22T11:02:58Z","timestamp":1637578978000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":33,"title":["Saliva is superior over nasopharyngeal swab for detecting SARS-CoV2 in COVID-19 patients"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7273-7333","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Getachew Tesfaye","family":"Beyene","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fekadu","family":"Alemu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eyerusalem Solomon","family":"Kebede","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dawit Hailu","family":"Alemayehu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tamirayehu","family":"Seyoum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dessalegn Abeje","family":"Tefera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gebeyehu","family":"Assefa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abebech","family":"Tesfaye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anteneh","family":"Habte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gadissa","family":"Bedada","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Birhanemeskel","family":"Tegene","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7672-9637","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Melese","family":"Yeshambaw","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liya","family":"Wassie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Adane","family":"Mihret","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alemseged","family":"Abdissa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andargachew","family":"Mulu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"2097_CR1","first-page":"157","volume":"91","author":"D Cucinotta","year":"2020","unstructured":"Cucinotta, D. & Vanelli, M. 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