Emergency Department, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
Department of Medical Microbiology, Ghent University Hospital, 9000, Ghent, Belgium.
BMC Microbiol. 2021 Jan 22;21(1):31. doi: 10.1186/s12866-021-02087-4.
Early 2020, a COVID-19 epidemic became a public health emergency of international concern. To address this pandemic broad testing with an easy, comfortable and reliable testing method is of utmost concern. Nasopharyngeal (NP) swab sampling is the reference method though hampered by international supply shortages. A new oropharyngeal/nasal (OP/N) sampling method was investigated using the more readily available throat swab.
35 patients were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 by means of either NP or OP/N sampling. The paired swabs were both positive in 31 patients. The one patient who tested negative on both NP and OP/N swab on admission, was ultimately diagnosed on bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. A strong correlation was found between the viral RNA loads of the paired swabs (r = 0.76; P < 0.05). The sensitivity of NP and OP/N analysis in hospitalized patients (n = 28) was 89.3% and 92.7% respectively.
This study demonstrates equivalence of NP and OP/N sampling for detection of SARS-CoV-2 by means of rRT-PCR. Sensitivity of both NP and OP/N sampling is very high in hospitalized patients.
2020 年初，COVID-19 疫情成为国际关注的公共卫生紧急事件。为应对这一大流行病，广泛使用简便、舒适、可靠的检测方法是当务之急。鼻咽（NP）拭子采样是参考方法，但受到国际供应短缺的影响。本研究使用更易获得的咽拭子，对新的口咽/鼻腔（OP/N）采样方法进行了研究。
35 例患者通过 NP 或 OP/N 采样被诊断为 SARS-CoV-2。31 例患者的配对拭子均为阳性。入院时 NP 和 OP/N 拭子均为阴性的 1 例患者，最终通过支气管肺泡灌洗液确诊。配对拭子的病毒 RNA 载量之间存在很强的相关性（r=0.76；P<0.05）。28 例住院患者中 NP 和 OP/N 分析的灵敏度分别为 89.3%和 92.7%。
本研究证明了 rRT-PCR 检测 SARS-CoV-2 时 NP 和 OP/N 采样具有等效性。NP 和 OP/N 采样在住院患者中的灵敏度均非常高。
