"Studies are underway" to assess the reliability of "saliva tests", which could "be rapid, easy tests tomorrow," Health Minister Olivier Véran assured Thursday during the government press conference. But "we must first ensure that saliva is a reliable liquid to measure the presence of the virus", because Sars-Cov-2 could be present in less quantity than in the nose and throat, specifies the management General of Health (DGS), questioned about these tests by AFP.
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A study launched in Guyana, another soon at the AP-HP
A study in this direction was launched in Guyana, at the Andrée Rosemon Hospital Center in Cayenne. The Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) declared itself in early August in favor of granting temporary funding, called an innovation package, for this project.
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Another study "will start in the coming days" at the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) to determine whether the analysis technique called RT-PCR, which looks for the presence of the genetic material of the virus, is also reliable on saliva than on a nasopharyngeal sample.
Saliva tests could be used at airports
As for the saliva tests which use other techniques, several screening points will compare their performance "in a second step" to that of the reference test by RT-PCR. This will be the case in particular with the "rapid" EasyCov saliva test, developed by the Montpellier laboratory Sys2Diag, where the color of the saliva-soaked pellet gives the result without having to go through an analysis laboratory.
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"In mass screening, it is necessary to be able to quickly rule out non-sick people without too many errors (the test must have good sensitivity)", underlines the DGS. "If they prove to be sensitive", the so-called "field" saliva tests could "be used as rapid tests in places of passage for example, such as airports, etc." People who test positive would then be "suspected of being sick" and asked to perform "a safer confirmatory test".