A study conducted by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has shown that a PCR test using saliva to check for Covid-19 is almost as accurate as the standard nose and throat swab.
The authors say saliva screening is a less invasive alternative to the nasal/throat swab and could enable greater capacity for and uptake of frequent testing of people who require regular screening.
The research, carried out by the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and published in HRB Open Research, has been approved by an international panel of peer-reviewers this week.
It involved the collection of nasal/throat swabs and saliva samples from a group of over 300 people with symptoms and without symptoms, between November 2020 and March 2021.