1. Detection of SARS-associated Coronavirus in Throat Wash and Saliva in Early Diagnosis
- Author
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Wei-Kung Wang, Shey-Ying Chen, I-Jung Liu, Yee-Chun Chen, Hui-Ling Chen, Chao-Fu Yang, Pei-Jer Chen, Shiou-Hwei Yeh, Chuan-Liang Kao, Li-Min Huang, Po-Ren Hsueh, Jann-Tay Wang, Wang-Hwei Sheng, Chi-Tai Fang, Chien-Ching Hung, Szu-Min Hsieh, Chan-Ping Su, Wen-Chu Chiang, Jyh-Yuan Yang, Jih-Hui Lin, Szu-Chia Hsieh, Hsien-Ping Hu, Yu-Ping Chiang, Jin-Town Wang, Pan-Chyr Yang, and Shan-Chwen Chang
- Subjects
severe acute respiratory syndrome ,SARS ,coronavirus ,CoV ,Taiwan ,perspective ,Medicine ,Infectious and parasitic diseases ,RC109-216 - Abstract
The severe acute respiratory syndrome–associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is thought to be transmitted primarily through dispersal of droplets, but little is known about the load of SARS-CoV in oral droplets. We examined oral specimens, including throat wash and saliva, and found large amounts of SARS-CoV RNA in both throat wash (9.58 x 102 to 5.93 x 106 copies/mL) and saliva (7.08 x 103 to 6.38 x 108 copies/mL) from all specimens of 17 consecutive probable SARS case-patients, supporting the possibility of transmission through oral droplets. Immunofluorescence study showed replication of SARS-CoV in the cells derived from throat wash, demonstrating the possibility of developing a convenient antigen detection assay. This finding, with the high detection rate a median of 4 days after disease onset and before the development of lung lesions in four cases, suggests that throat wash and saliva should be included in sample collection guidelines for SARS diagnosis.
- Published
- 2004
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