medRxiv. 2021 Feb 4:2021.02.01.21250946. doi: 10.1101/2021.02.01.21250946. Preprint.
ABSTRACT
There is an urgent need to expand testing for SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory pathogens as the global community struggles to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Current diagnostic methods can be affected by supply chain bottlenecks and require the assistance of medical professionals, impeding the implementation of large-scale testing. Self-collection of saliva may solve these problems because it can be completed without specialized training and uses generic materials. In this study, we observed thirty individuals who self-collected saliva using four different collection devices and analyzed their feedback. These devices enabled the safe collection of saliva that was acceptable for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing.
PMID:33564787 | PMC:PMC7872382 | DOI:10.1101/2021.02.01.21250946