Frequent testing regimen based on salivary samples for an effective COVID-19 containment strategy

Rapid and accurate diagnostic tests are essential for controlling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Although the current gold standard involves testing of nasopharyngeal swabs specimens by nucleic acid amplification test, such as real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) to detect the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), it presents several limitations that ultimately may translate into a bottleneck in the surveillance regimen. New strategies based on frequent testing using less invasive specimens are urgently needed for containment of the infection. Rapid antigen assay using saliva as a reliable alternative to nasopharyngeal swabs should be proposed as a valuable part of the overall testing strategy.