SARSLIVA and utility of saliva in diagnosis for wide scale testing, including viral and SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection in pre- and asymptomatic persons and follow-up of infections in COVID-19 patient; a house hold study

High level of spread of the coronavirus within households - results of the SARSLIVA study A total of 85 households (326 adults and children) participated in the SARSLIVA study. The study lasted 6 weeks and participants collected saliva themselves at 10 times with a tube or, for the little ones, with a so-called 'sucking cotton ball'. The research team also collected a nasal swab, throat swab and a finger prick from the participants. The most important outcome of the SARSLIVA study is that a high degree of spread of the coronavirus within households was found due to the frequent collection of saliva in combination with swabs and blood collection to determine antibodies. In 88% of households where someone was infected with the coronavirus, one or more housemates also became infected. These results also show that taking saliva can be an attractive way to investigate the spread of the coronavirus.