Direct Detection and Identification of Viruses in Saliva Using a SpecIDâ¢ Ionization Modified Mass Spectrometer

The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has led to a significant number of deaths globally and negative health consequences. Accurate early diagnosis, surveillance, identification of cohorts, and prophylaxis are considered essential measures to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. There is a need for a reliable, fast, high-throughput screening method that can identify sick patients. Since respiratory viruses are typically present in nasal and oral secretions, saliva would be a good target for testing. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) remains the gold standard for sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection in biological samples. Although PCR testing for COVID is sensitive (500 virions per ml) and widely used by hospitals, the method has a false-negative rate of 15-20% and is kit based. Saliva testing has slowly gained popularity in the diagnostic market for testing based on biomarkers and other constituents ranging from organic compounds (e.g., food additives), peptides, and even microorganisms. In this paper, we will show how the SpecID Mass Spectrometer can detect the presence of a virus in saliva at very low levels. The main goal of the study consisted of addressing the shortcomings of existing methodologies, by providing a reliable, high-throughput, rapid, modified mass spectrometer to detect viruses in saliva, including but not limited to SARS-CoV-2