Another Test for SARS-CoV-2—This One Based on Salivary Swabs

After an outright cure for or a vaccine to prevent COVID-19, the Holy Grail of the pandemic is a reliable method of testing patients who may have been infected. A new study out of the University of Insubria, Varese, Italy shows that testing saliva could be as reliable as anything else. Researchers got positive tests from their first salivary swab in all 25 patients who took part. Interestingly, two of those patients had negative pharyngeal and bronchoalveolar swab tests on the same day that they were tested via salivary swab. While the sample size is very small, the results give some indication that salivary testing might actually be both more convenient and more accurate than other methods. The research has been published in the Journal of Infection.