Use of Saliva and RT-PCR Screening for SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern: Surveillance and Monitoring

Genomic surveillance has been applied since the beginning of the COVID‐19pandemic to track the spread of the virus, leading to the characterization of multipleSARS‐CoV‐2 variants, including variants of concern (VOC). Although sequencing isthe standard method, a rapid molecular test for screening and surveillance of VOC isconsidered for detection. Furthermore, using alternative saliva as specimencollection facilitates the implementation of a less invasive, self‐collected sample.In this study, we applied a combinatory strategy of saliva collection and reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) for SARS‐CoV‐2 VOC detection.Saliva samples from patients attending a tertiary hospital with suspected COVID‐19were collected and SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA was detected using SARS‐CoV‐2RT‐qPCRreagent kit (PerkinElmer). Positive saliva samples were screened for SARS‐CoV‐2VOC with previously described RT‐PCR for Alpha, Beta, and Gamma variants. Salivasamples were positive in 171 (53%) of 324 tested. A total of 108 (74%) from positivesamples were also positive for VOC by RT‐PCR screening. Those samples werefound between January and August 2021. This approach allowed us to successfullyuse an alternative and complementary tool to genomic surveillance to monitor thecirculation of SARS‐CoV‐2 VOC in the studied population.