ABSTRACT
The year 2020 will be remembered for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which continues to affect the whole world. Early and accurate identification of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is fundamental to combat the disease. Among the current diagnostic tests, real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is the most reliable and frequently used method. Herein, we discuss the interpretation of RT-qPCR results relative to viral infectivity. Although nasopharyngeal swab samples are often used for RT-qPCR testing, they require collection by trained medical staff. Saliva samples are emerging as an inexpensive and efficient alternative for large-scale screening. Pooled-sample testing of saliva has been applied for mass screening of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Current policies recommend isolating people with borderline cycle threshold (Ct) values (35Subject(s)
Asymptomatic Infections
, COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing/methods
, COVID-19/diagnosis
, SARS-CoV-2
, Saliva/virology
, COVID-19/prevention & control
, Female
, Humans
, Japan/epidemiology
, Male
, Middle Aged
, Risk Reduction Behavior