Oral saliva swab reverse transcription PCR for Covid-19 in the paediatric population.
Arch Dis Child
; 107(11): 1051-1058, 2022 11.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35688603
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To evaluate the performance of oral saliva swab (OSS) reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) compared with RT-PCR and antigen rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) on nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) for SARS-CoV-2 in children.DESIGN:
Cross-sectional multicentre diagnostic study.SETTING:
Study nested in a prospective, observational cohort (EPICO-AEP) performed between February and March 2021 including 10 hospitals in Spain. PATIENTS Children from 0 to 18 years with symptoms compatible with Covid-19 of ≤5 days of duration were included. Two NPS samples (Ag-RDT and RT-PCR) and one OSS sample for RT-PCR were collected. MAINOUTCOME:
Performance of Ag-RDT and RT-PCR on NPS and RT-PCR on OSS sample for SARS-CoV-2.RESULTS:
1174 children were included, aged 3.8 years (IQR 1.7-9.0); 73/1174 (6.2%) patients tested positive by at least one of the techniques. Sensitivity and specificity of OSS RT-PCR were 72.1% (95% CI 59.7 to 81.9) and 99.6% (95% CI 99 to 99.9), respectively, versus 61.8% (95% CI 49.1 to 73) and 99.9% (95% CI 99.4 to 100) for the Ag-RDT. Kappa index was 0.79 (95% CI 0.72 to 0.88) for OSS RT-PCR and 0.74 (95% CI 0.65 to 0.84) for Ag-RDT versus NPS RT-PCR.CONCLUSIONS:
RT-PCR on the OSS sample is an accurate option for SARS-CoV-2 testing in children. A less intrusive technique for younger patients, who usually are tested frequently, might increase the number of patients tested.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Child
/
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Arch Dis Child
Year:
2022
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Spain