SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Saliva Rises Gradually and to Moderate Levels in Some Humans.

ABSTRACT: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in community settings often occurs before symptom onset, therefore testing strategies that can reliably detect people in the early phase of infection are urgently needed. Early detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection is especially critical to protect vulnerable populations who require frequent interactions with caretakers. Rapid COVID-19 tests have been proposed as an attractive strategy for surveillance, however a limitation of most rapid tests is their low sensitivity. Low-sensitivity tests are comparable to high sensitivity tests in detecting early infections when two assumptions are met: (1) viral load rises quickly (within hours) after infection and (2) viral load reaches and sustains high levels (>10⁵-10⁶ RNA copies/mL). However, there are n

SUBMITTER: Winnett A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7743094 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature