Increased SARS-CoV-2 Testing Capacity with Pooled Saliva Samples.
Anne E Watkins, Eli P Fenichel, Daniel M Weinberger, Chantal B F Vogels, Doug E Brackney, Arnau Casanovas-Massana, Melissa Campbell, John Fournier, Santos Bermejo, Rupak Datta, Charles S Dela Cruz, Shelli F Farhadian, Akiko Iwasaki, Albert I Ko, Nathan D Grubaugh, Anne L Wyllie, Yale IMPACT Research Team2
We analyzed feasibility of pooling saliva samples for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 testing and found that sensitivity decreased according to pool size: 5 samples/pool, 7.4% reduction; 10 samples/pool, 11.1%; and 20 samples/pool, 14.8%. When virus prevalence is >2.6%, pools of 5 require fewer tests; when <0.6%, pools of 20 support screening strategies.
