Table 3.
Comparison of approximate costs between SARS-CoV-2 detection tests for saliva and swab collections.
| Collection Stage (598 Samples/Month) & | ||
| Material/Human resources | Saliva | Swab |
| Conical Tubes (unit) | - | USD 93.23 |
| Swab Rayon (unit) | - | USD 205.70 |
| Microtubes (unit) | USD 44.73 | - |
| Saline | USD 0.81 | USD 4.88 |
| Nursing Technician Professional | - | USD 625.00 × 4 £ = 2500 |
| Total | USD 45.48 | USD 2803.88 |
| Total/Sample | USD 0.075 | USD 4.68 |
| Separation and processing stage (30 samples/day) * | ||
| Material | Saliva | Swab |
| Tips 200 µL | USD 3.21 | - |
| Pasteur Pipette 3 mL | - | USD 0.78 |
| Cylindrical Tube 4 mL | - | USD 0.33 |
| Full Sleeve Disposable Apron (unit) | USD 0.65 | USD 0.65 |
| Disposable Nitrile Gloves (pair) | USD 0.045 | USD 0.045 |
| N95 Disposable Mask (unit) | USD 0.18 | USD 0.18 |
| Disposable Caps (unit) | USD 0.016 | USD 0.016 |
| Total | USD 4.11 | USD 2.02 |
| Total/Sample | USD 0.13 | USD 0.06 |
| Viral RNA extraction step (same method for saliva e swab) 96 samples | ||
| Material | Cost | |
| Tire Encapsulation Magnetics | USD 9.39 | |
| Plate Deep Well 2.2 mL viral RNA extraction Loccus Extracta 96 | USD 5.46 | |
| Tips 1000 µL | USD 12.21 | |
| Plate Sealing Film (Non-Optical) | USD 1.46 | |
| Magnetics Beads | USD 10.10 | |
| Sodium Chloride | USD 0.18 | |
| Triton x-100 | USD 0.36 | |
| Guanidine Thiocyanate | USD 3.96 | |
| Polyethyleneglycol | USD 1.80 | |
| Total | USD 44.96 | |
| Total/Sample | USD 0.46 | |
| RT-qPCR (same method for saliva e swab) 96 samples | ||
| Material | Cost | |
| Kit Allplex™ SARS-CoV-2 Assay | USD 499.19 # | |
| Tips 0.5–10 µL | USD 10.33 | |
| 96-well plates for real time PCR-100 µL wells | USD 3.74 | |
| PCR Plate Sealing Film | USD 1.87 | |
| Full Sleeve Disposable Apron (unit) | USD 0.65 | |
| Disposable Nitrile Gloves (pair) | USD 0.24 | |
| N95 Disposable Mask (unit) | USD 0.045 | |
| Disposable Caps (unit) | USD 0.016 | |
| Total | USD 516.05 | |
| Total/Sample | USD 5.37 | |
| Totals Costs | ||
| Stage | Saliva | Swab |
| Collect | USD 0.075 | USD 4.68 |
| Separation and processing | USD 0.13 | USD 0.06 |
| Viral RNA extraction | USD 0.46 | USD 0.46 |
| RT-qPCR | USD 5.37 | USD 5.37 |
| Total/Sample | USD 6.05 | USD 10.59 |
& Monthly average of swab samples collected by HC-FMB in 2021; £ in 2021, two nursing technicians were hired to meet HC-FMB’s swab collection demands; * average number of swab samples received per day by LBA—Molecular Biology in 2021; # calculated based on the average USD exchange rate during 2021.