Anne Wyllie
5,495 posts
Anne Wyllie
@awyllie13
New Haven, CT
Joined June 2009
- So it turns out that SARS-CoV-2 RNA is remarkably stable in saliva samples, whether stored frozen then tested or just left sitting around in warmer conditions...
- “Sorry who is Anne Wyllie? Who is Anne Wyllie? She’s a research scientist sitting in the US on some university campus. How is she qualified?” 👋 Hi, I am Anne Wyllie. That university campus I'm sitting on is @YaleSPH & we developed an open-access FDA EUA saliva-based PCR test
- Replying to @awyllie13COVID-19 patients: SARS-CoV-2 detection from saliva is comparable to (or better than!) NP swabs and more consistent over time (a. since symptom onset; b. by sampling moment = variability between collections). Our results highlight the potential for false-negativity from NP swabs.
- Replying to @awyllie13While saliva has shown promise for SARS-CoV-2 detection, very few studies have directly compared it to the current gold standard, nasopharyngeal (NP) swab. So, we compared NP and saliva samples from COVID-19 patients and self-collected samples from asymptomatic healthcare workers
- Replying to @awyllie13The takeaway: saliva should be considered as a viable alternative for SARS-CoV-2 detection. To meet growing testing demands, our findings support the need for immediate validation and implementation of saliva sampling for #SARSCoV2 diagnostics
- Replying to @awyllie13The take home: expensive collection devices are prohibitive to mass testing efforts. Simple saliva collection frees testing from supply chain issues, helps keep testing costs down, and permits frequent testing which is so desperately needed right now
- Replying to @awyllie13Plus, the detection of SARS-CoV-2 from the saliva of two asymptomatic healthcare workers (...and counting!) who tested negative from their NP swabs suggests that saliva could be a viable alternative for identifying mild or subclinical infections.
- If you are a teacher in NZ and find yourself with a greater workload due to some of your colleagues being absent, flick me a message and I am happy to try to organise to video call your class to talk about saliva PCR COVID-19 tests and how they can help NZs pandemic response.
- Replying to @awyllie13With further validation, widespread use of saliva sampling could be transformative for public health efforts: saliva self-collection circumvents direct healthcare worker-patient interaction, reducing overall risk of infection in hospitals and supply demands on swab kits and PPE.
- Replying to @awyllie13A massive shout out to everyone involved in this effort, including: @NathanGrubaugh @arnaucasanovas @maria_tokuyama @AJMooreHealth @VogelsChantal @MaryPetrone10 @IsabelOtt @ChaneyKalinich @peowenlu @sneakyvirus1 @arvieil @RebeccaEarnest1 @SaadOmer3 @ShelFarFar @DelaCruzYaleMed
- Onwards and upwards! I am excited to announce that I am on the market for a tenure track faculty position at a school of public health or school of medicine. Please DM me if you have any leads. In the meantime, here’s a little more about me: ysph.yale.edu/profile/anne_w…
- Our FDA EUA is just the start!💦There are many more promising tests already under development - I hope that SalivaDirect's EUA can help pave the way for others to also receive EUA. With more frequent, fast, cheap and easy testing options we can get this virus under control💪#FCEEReplying to @hmkyale @YaleMed and 3 othersAnd there will be much more innovation to come in testing… from this team and others. But having a simple, effective, saliva test… that should be inexpensive, can be widely available - should be gamechanging. Now to test the heck out of this pandemic and beat it back.
- To safely reopen, we must improve our ability to efficiently #TestTraceIsolate for #COVID19. As the on-going pandemic reaches resource-limited settings, inexpensive, simple, scalable testing is needed. This is possible with #SalivaDirect, our new method. protocols.io/view/salivadir…
