The Department of Health (DOH) is considering the use of saliva as a sample for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing.
“Yung saliva, pinag-aralan as a sample or as a specimen that we can use. Tinitingnan ng ating lab experts panel kasi mas magiging madali kapag laway lang ang gagamitin. Pero marami nang pinakita sa amin ang lab experts panel na medyo mas tedious siya kasi minsan laway, may ibang particles ng pagkain.So marami tayong pinag-aaralan ukol dyan. (We are considering saliva as a sample or specimen that we can use. Our lab experts panel is looking [into it] because it is easier. However, our lab experts panel has shown us plenty [proofs] that saliva is somehow tedious since it has other food particles. So we have a lot to study there),” DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire has stated.
The said method is also used in the United States of America after the US-FDA issued an emergency use authorization for Salivadirect that was developed by researchers from Yale School of Public Health.
The saliva testing will also skip the nucleic acid extraction process for a faster turnaround time. Studies have shown that the agreement rate in samples used by a device is more than 94%.
Meanwhile, the DOH reminds that the RT-PCR test is still the gold standard in COVID-19 testing. – Report from Mark Fetalco
