%0 Journal Article
%A Moraleda, Cinta
%A Domínguez-Rodríguez, Sara
%A Mesa, Juan Miguel
%A García-Sánchez, Paula
%A de la Serna, María
%A Alonso-Cadenas, José Antonio
%A Bermejo, Amanda
%A Sabrido, Gema
%A Martínez-Campos, Leticia
%A González-Posada, Aránzazu Flavia
%A Illán-Ramos, Marta
%A Cobos-Carrascosa, Elena
%A Ballesteros, Álvaro
%A Galán, Juan Carlos
%A Llorente, Francisco
%A Aguilera-Alonso, David
%A Jiménez, Ana Belén
%A Catalán, Pilar
%A Dahdouh, Elias
%A Navarro, Ignacio
%A Fernández-Garoz, Bárbara
%A Mendoza, Pablo
%A Pérez-Jorge, Concepción
%A Cabezas-Fernández, Teresa
%A Blázquez-Gamero, Daniel
%A Rivas, Gonzalo
%A Gonzalez-Donapetry, Patricia
%A Sáez, Elena
%A Fernández-Pinero, Jovita
%A Lucas-Fernández, Jesús
%A Pérez-Ramírez, Elisa
%A Merino, Paloma
%A Miragaya, Sandra
%A Lorente, Jorge
%A Iglesias, Irene
%A Tagarro, Alfredo
%A EPICO working group
%T Oral saliva swab reverse transcription PCR for Covid-19 in the paediatric population.
%D 2022
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10668/20131
%X 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. Cross-sectional multicentre diagnostic study. Study nested in a prospective, observational cohort (EPICO-AEP) performed between February and March 2021 including 10 hospitals in Spain. 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. Performance of Ag-RDT and RT-PCR on NPS and RT-PCR on OSS sample for SARS-CoV-2. 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. 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.
%K Covid-19
%K Infectious Disease Medicine
%K Microbiology
%K Molecular Biology
%K Virology
%~