Sensitivity of nasopharyngeal, oropharyngeal, and nasal wash specimens for SARS-CoV-2 detection in the setting of sampling device shortage

Laurent Kaiser,Adriana Renzoni,Léna Mazza,Adrien Calame,Manuel Schibler

doi:10.1007/s10096-020-04039-8

Abstract

In the context of an unprecedented shortage of nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) or sample transport media during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, alternative methods for sample collection are needed. To address this need, we validated a cell culture medium as a viral transport medium, and compared the analytical sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR in nasal wash (NW), oropharyngeal swab (OPS), and NPS specimens. Both the clinical and analytical sensitivity were comparable in these three sample types. OPS and NW specimens may therefore represent suitable alternatives to NPS for SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Highlights

In the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a broad testing strategy is crucial to identify infected persons, including less typical clinical presentations of the disease [1]
We compared the techniques in two groups of volunteers: the first group comprised 20 cases where a nasal wash (NW) specimen was collected followed by a nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS) specimen
The clinical sensitivities of NW and oropharyngeal swabs (OPS) specimens were compared with those of the NPS specimens using the cycle threshold (Ct) values obtained by SARSCoV-2 rRT-PCR

Summary

Introduction

In the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a broad testing strategy is crucial to identify infected persons, including less typical clinical presentations of the disease [1]. During this pandemic, broad screening is sometimes hampered by equipment and Calame Adrien, Mazza Léna, Kaiser Laurent and Schibler Manuel contributed to this work. The WHO recommends collecting nasopharyngeal swabs (NPS), oropharyngeal swabs (OPS), or nasal wash (NW) specimens from ambulatory patients with COVID-19 disease (https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/ 331329?locale-attribute=fr&)

Methods

Results

Conclusion