Diagnostics (Nov 2021)

Feasibility of Rapid Diagnostic Technology for SARS-CoV-2 Virus Using a Trace Amount of Saliva

  • Reiko Tokuyama-Toda,
  • Masaaki Muraoka,
  • Chika Terada-Ito,
  • Shinji Ide,
  • Toshikatsu Horiuchi,
  • Tsuyoshi Amemiya,
  • Airi Fukuoka,
  • Yoshiki Hamada,
  • Shunsuke Sejima,
  • Kazuhito Satomura

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics11112024
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 11
p. 2024

Abstract

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Containment of SARS-CoV-2 has become an urgent global issue. To overcome the problems of conventional quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) tests, we verified the usefulness of a mobile qPCR device that utilizes mouthwash to obtain a saliva sample with the aim of developing a rapid diagnostic method for SARS-CoV-2. First, we examined whether anyone could easily operate this device. Then, we examined whether RNA in the mouthwash could be detected in a short time. In addition, we investigated whether it was possible to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection using mouthwash obtained from COVID-19 patients undergoing hospitalization. The results revealed that all subjects were able to complete the operation properly without error. In addition, RNase P was detected in the mouthwash without pretreatment. The average detection time was 18 min, which is significantly shorter than conventional qPCR devices. Furthermore, this device detected SARS-CoV-2 in the mouthwash of a COVID-19 patient undergoing hospitalization. The above findings verified the efficacy of this diagnostic method, which had a low risk of infection, was technically simple, and provided stable results. Therefore, this method is useful for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2.

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