Testing saliva for traces of the COVID-19 virus seems a born natural, because it travels between humans in mucus droplets. Yale School of Public Health has developed just such as test, and the U.S. FDA awarded it emergency release. Its emergency approval of the Yale saliva test is particularly significant because it is effective with asymptomatic individuals too.
NBA Spearheads Emergency Authorization for Yale Saliva Test
The first stage of validation involved National Basketball Association staff and players, with financial assistance from NBA. They will have found the test far less invasive than swabbing samples from their nostrils using the nasopharyngeal method.
Therefore, this seems a winner under current circumstances, where testing is a critical component of the COVID-19 response. Moreover, U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorization has opened the door to further validation.
Saliva testing is a well-established procedure for identifying endocrine, immunologic, inflammatory, and infectious markers. Results thus far confirm the SalivaDirect test produces results on par with nasopharyngeal swabbing. Furthermore, the emergency approval of the Yale saliva test makes it immediately available to other laboratories too.
The Way is Open for Mass Rollout of Yale’s SalivaDirect Test
Lead Yale researchers confirmed the test is ‘highly sensitive’ and has ‘high agreement’ with nose-swabbing results. They have validated it with reagents and instruments from a variety of vendors. And they hope these will mitigate supply chain stoppages.
However, the most significant discriminator is its low cost compared to other FDA-approved saliva tests. That’s because the SalivaDirect reagent, primer, probe and test kit could price well under $5 per sample.
We called it SalivaDirect because it’s just that, their spokesperson explains. Our very simple intermediate treatment makes it a lot cheaper. And we can expect much faster throughput, and turnaround after emergency approval of the Yale saliva test.
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Preview Image: Yale SalivaDirect Test Method
