Introduction
SARS, MERS
VIRUS
COVID-19 is responsible for a dramatic health and social situation around the globe. Rapid and accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus in symptomatic individuals is essential for taking immediate measures such as patient isolation and quarantine. Testing is the cornerstone of pandemic management [Because of these limitations of PCR, there is definitely a need to investigate alternative testing methods that better reflect transmissibility, to break transmission chains more rapidly and efficiently, release the pressure on the health system and ease the way for patients.To address the issues of laboratory infrastructure and procedures, as well as turnaround time, several companies have developed point of care antigen rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) to detect SARS-CoV-2. These tests are performed on NP swabs for the time being. Manufacturers report analytical sensitivity above 95% for all of these tests, while independent laboratory based studies report variable performances [To address the swabbing issue, there has been several attempts to use saliva for the detection of SARS-CoV-2, as it has been done for different viruses, including coronaviruses responsible for SARS and MERS [To simultaneously investigate analytical (PCR and RDTs) and sampling procedures (saliva and NP swab), we conducted a prospective clinical trial in symptomatic patients, in order to compare the detection rate of SARS-CoV-2 and sensitivity of i) RDT on NP swab, ii) PCR on NP swab and iii) PCR on saliva. Secondary objectives were to compare detection rates and sensitivity stratified by VL categories and symptoms duration.