Saliva swabs are the preferred sample for Omicron detection (preprint)

ABSTRACT

The Omicron variant is characterised by more than 50 distinct mutations, the majority of which are located in the spike protein. The implications of these mutations for disease transmission, tissue tropism and diagnostic testing are still to be determined. We evaluated the relative performance of saliva and mid-turbinate swabs as RT-PCR samples for the Delta and Omicron variants. The positive percent agreement (PPA) of saliva swabs and mid-turbinate swabs to a composite standard was 71% (95% CI 53-84%) and 100% (95% CI 89-100%), respectively, for the Delta variant. However, for the Omicron variant saliva and mid-turbinate swabs had a 100% (95% CI 90-100%) and 86% (95% CI 71-94%) PPA, respectively. This finding supports ex-vivo data of altered tissue tropism from other labs for the Omicron variant. Reassessment of the diagnostic testing standard-of-care may be required as the Omicron variant becomes the dominant variant worldwide.