Gorgas Institute studies saliva and breathalyzer tests for Covid-19

A team of scientists from Panama’s  Gorgas Institute for Health Studies took advantage of a massive day of swab testing forCOVID-19 on Sunday, to search for, faster and less invasive diagnostic options for patients,   and in a building in the Rio Abajo district took hundreds of saliva samples,

Director of Miguel Pascale explained that the investigations with saliva seek to verify the effectiveness of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in the detection of the new coronavirus.

He said that the idea is to obtain a type of sampling “less invasive, more comfortable for people, less traumatic, and that allows a person to do it several times, even in a week. The swab is a bit bothersome. Saliva is very simple and we want to see its usefulness ”.

A study by the Yale University School of Public Health, published in MedRxiv – which is in the pre-press phase – indicates that saliva is a promising candidate for the diagnosis of Covid-19 because its collection is minimally invasive and has shown comparable sensitivity to nasopharyngeal swabs in detecting other respiratory viruses, including other coronaviruses.

Pascale added that soon they will also begin a study through the breath, very similar to the breathalyzer used to measure the level of alcohol. With technological changes, the country cannot lag behind in diagnosing the virus, he said.