{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,18]],"date-time":"2026-05-18T11:19:09Z","timestamp":1779103149150,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":12,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,16]],"date-time":"2021-11-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1637020800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100006706","name":"Tampere Tuberculosis Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100006706","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100008309","name":"Research Foundation of the Pulmonary Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100008309","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Competitive State Research Financing of the Expert Responsibility area of Tampere University Hospital"},{"name":"Tampere University Hospital Support Foundation"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"\nBackground<\/jats:title>\nSARS-CoV-2 diagnosis relies on the performance of nasopharyngeal swabs. Alternative sample sites have been assessed but the heterogeneity of the studies have made comparing different sites difficult.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n\nObjectives<\/jats:title>\nOur aim was to compare the performance of four different sampling sites for SARS-CoV-2 samples with nasopharynx being the benchmark.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n\nStudy design<\/jats:title>\nCOVID-19 positive patients were recruited prospectively, and samples were collected and analysed for SARS-CoV-2 with RT-PCR from all four anatomical sites in 43 patients, who provided written informed consent.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n\nResults<\/jats:title>\nAll anterior nasal and saliva samples were positive, while two oropharyngeal samples were negative. There was no significant difference in the cycle threshold values of nasopharyngeal and anterior nasal samples while saliva and oropharynx had higher cycle threshold values.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n\nConclusions<\/jats:title>\nAnterior nasal swab performs as good as nasopharynx swab with saliva also finding all the positives but with higher cycle threshold values. Thus, we can conclude that anterior nasal swabs can be used for SARS-CoV-2 detection instead of nasopharyngeal swabs if the situation would require so.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0260184","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,16]],"date-time":"2021-11-16T18:27:24Z","timestamp":1637087244000},"page":"e0260184","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Sampling site for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR\u2014An intrapatient four-site comparison from Tampere, Finland"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5844-2715","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Dominik","family":"Kerimov","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2139-6457","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Pekka","family":"Tamminen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hanna","family":"Viskari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lauri","family":"Lehtim\u00e4ki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Janne","family":"Aittoniemi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0260184.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"727","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa2001017","article-title":"A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019","volume":"382","author":"N Zhu","year":"2020","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.2807\/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.3.2000045","article-title":"Detection of 2019 -nCoV by RT-PCR.","volume":"25","author":"VM Corman","year":"2020","journal-title":"Euro Surveill"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref003","first-page":"58","article-title":"Saliva as a noninvasive specimen for detection of sars-cov-2","author":"E Williams","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Clin Microbiol"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1283","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMc2016359","article-title":"Saliva or Nasopharyngeal Swab Specimens for Detection of SARS-CoV-2","volume":"383","author":"AL Wyllie","year":"2020","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref005","article-title":"Comparing saliva and nasopharyngeal swab specimens in the detection of COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.","author":"K Nasiri","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Dent Sci"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref006","article-title":"Diagnostic performance of different sampling approaches for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing: a systematic review and meta-analysis","author":"NNY Tsang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Lancet Infect Dis"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref007","first-page":"1","article-title":"Performance of Saliva, Oropharyngeal Swabs, and Nasal Swabs for SARS-CoV-2 Molecular Detection: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis","volume":"59","author":"RA Lee","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Clin Microbiol"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref008","article-title":"Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Using Specimens Other than Naso- and Oropharyngeal Swabs: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.","author":"VM Moreira","year":"2021","journal-title":"SSRN Electron J"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"353","DOI":"10.1001\/jamainternmed.2020.8876","article-title":"Comparison of Saliva and Nasopharyngeal Swab Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing for Detection of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.","volume":"181","author":"G Butler-Laporte","year":"2021","journal-title":"JAMA Intern Med"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.01824-20","article-title":"Self-collected anterior nasal and saliva specimens versus health care worker-collected nasopharyngeal swabs for the molecular detection of SARS-CoV-2","volume":"58","author":"KE Hanson","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Clin Microbiol"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2015","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2020.22003","article-title":"First It Was Masks; Now Some Refuse Testing for SARS-CoV-2","volume":"324","author":"R. Rubin","year":"2020","journal-title":"JAMA\u2014J Am Med Assoc"},{"key":"pone.0260184.ref012","article-title":"Complications of COVID-19 Nasopharyngeal Swab Test.","author":"A Koskinen","year":"2021","journal-title":"JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0260184","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,16]],"date-time":"2021-11-16T18:28:00Z","timestamp":1637087280000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0260184"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Robert Jeenchen","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,16]]},"references-count":12,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,16]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0260184","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,16]]}}}