Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Pregnant Women Treated with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) Using Salivary Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Prospective Cohort Study

Objectives: We aim to study the relative viral load using salivary polymerase chain reaction among pregnant women treated with Paxlovid. Methods: Pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 were allocated to two groups: those receiving Paxlovid and those receiving no antiviral agents. We compared t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Chun-Han Tseng, Chih-Wei Lin, Pei-Yin Tsai, Mei-Tsz Su
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Microorganisms
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/12/2566
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850238372084187136
author Chun-Han Tseng
Chih-Wei Lin
Pei-Yin Tsai
Mei-Tsz Su
author_facet Chun-Han Tseng
Chih-Wei Lin
Pei-Yin Tsai
Mei-Tsz Su
author_sort Chun-Han Tseng
collection DOAJ
description Objectives: We aim to study the relative viral load using salivary polymerase chain reaction among pregnant women treated with Paxlovid. Methods: Pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 were allocated to two groups: those receiving Paxlovid and those receiving no antiviral agents. We compared the nasopharyngeal and salivary relative viral loads and their changes in saliva specimens. Results: Among the thirty-seven pregnant women, seventeen received Paxlovid, and twenty received no antiviral agents. The viral cycle threshold value of saliva was significantly higher than that from nasopharynx, with a median ± interquartile range of 26.44 ± 7.68 versus 17.6 ± 9.6 in the Paxlovid group (<i>p</i> = 0.005). Following treatment, the median salivary viral load decreased by 13.40 cycle threshold values in the Paxlovid group (from a median of [Day 0 Ct] to [Day 4/5 Ct]), compared to a change of −1.59 cycle threshold values in the no-antiviral group (from a median of [Day 0 Ct] to [Day 4/5 Ct]) (<i>p</i> = 0.021). The detection rate of coronavirus disease 2019 using salivary polymerase chain reaction was 83.8% (31/37). Conclusions: This study showed that saliva is a useful diagnostic tool for coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnant women, and a significant decrease in the relative viral load of saliva was observed in those treated with Paxlovid.
format Article
id doaj-art-3197ab2e2ec54771be3fe22ddf7f47b7
institution OA Journals
issn 2076-2607
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Microorganisms
spelling doaj-art-3197ab2e2ec54771be3fe22ddf7f47b72025-08-20T02:01:28ZengMDPI AGMicroorganisms2076-26072024-12-011212256610.3390/microorganisms12122566Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Pregnant Women Treated with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) Using Salivary Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Prospective Cohort StudyChun-Han Tseng0Chih-Wei Lin1Pei-Yin Tsai2Mei-Tsz Su3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 704, TaiwanDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 704, TaiwanDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 704, TaiwanDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, 138 Sheng-Li Road, Tainan 704, TaiwanObjectives: We aim to study the relative viral load using salivary polymerase chain reaction among pregnant women treated with Paxlovid. Methods: Pregnant women with coronavirus disease 2019 were allocated to two groups: those receiving Paxlovid and those receiving no antiviral agents. We compared the nasopharyngeal and salivary relative viral loads and their changes in saliva specimens. Results: Among the thirty-seven pregnant women, seventeen received Paxlovid, and twenty received no antiviral agents. The viral cycle threshold value of saliva was significantly higher than that from nasopharynx, with a median ± interquartile range of 26.44 ± 7.68 versus 17.6 ± 9.6 in the Paxlovid group (<i>p</i> = 0.005). Following treatment, the median salivary viral load decreased by 13.40 cycle threshold values in the Paxlovid group (from a median of [Day 0 Ct] to [Day 4/5 Ct]), compared to a change of −1.59 cycle threshold values in the no-antiviral group (from a median of [Day 0 Ct] to [Day 4/5 Ct]) (<i>p</i> = 0.021). The detection rate of coronavirus disease 2019 using salivary polymerase chain reaction was 83.8% (31/37). Conclusions: This study showed that saliva is a useful diagnostic tool for coronavirus disease 2019 in pregnant women, and a significant decrease in the relative viral load of saliva was observed in those treated with Paxlovid.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/12/2566severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2pregnancynirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid)saliva
spellingShingle Chun-Han Tseng
Chih-Wei Lin
Pei-Yin Tsai
Mei-Tsz Su
Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Pregnant Women Treated with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) Using Salivary Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Prospective Cohort Study
Microorganisms
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
pregnancy
nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid)
saliva
title Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Pregnant Women Treated with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) Using Salivary Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Prospective Cohort Study
title_full Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Pregnant Women Treated with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) Using Salivary Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Prospective Cohort Study
title_fullStr Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Pregnant Women Treated with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) Using Salivary Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Prospective Cohort Study
title_full_unstemmed Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Pregnant Women Treated with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) Using Salivary Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Prospective Cohort Study
title_short Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Pregnant Women Treated with Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir (Paxlovid) Using Salivary Polymerase Chain Reaction: A Prospective Cohort Study
title_sort detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in pregnant women treated with nirmatrelvir ritonavir paxlovid using salivary polymerase chain reaction a prospective cohort study
topic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
pregnancy
nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid)
saliva
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/12/12/2566
work_keys_str_mv AT chunhantseng detectionofsevereacuterespiratorysyndromecoronavirus2inpregnantwomentreatedwithnirmatrelvirritonavirpaxlovidusingsalivarypolymerasechainreactionaprospectivecohortstudy
AT chihweilin detectionofsevereacuterespiratorysyndromecoronavirus2inpregnantwomentreatedwithnirmatrelvirritonavirpaxlovidusingsalivarypolymerasechainreactionaprospectivecohortstudy
AT peiyintsai detectionofsevereacuterespiratorysyndromecoronavirus2inpregnantwomentreatedwithnirmatrelvirritonavirpaxlovidusingsalivarypolymerasechainreactionaprospectivecohortstudy
AT meitszsu detectionofsevereacuterespiratorysyndromecoronavirus2inpregnantwomentreatedwithnirmatrelvirritonavirpaxlovidusingsalivarypolymerasechainreactionaprospectivecohortstudy