Despite low viral titer in saliva samples, Sanger-based SARS-CoV-2 spike gene sequencing is highly applicable for the variant identification

Table 1 Frequency of sequences obtained by Illumina NextSeq2000 NGS and Sanger stratified by viral titer

Viral titer (copies/mL)	N	Amplification by Illumina NextSeq2000 NGS			Amplification by Sanger platform			p-value
Viral titer (copies/mL)	N	Detected	Undetected	% Detected	Detected	Undetected	% Detected	p-value
≤ 10³	78	15	63	19.2%	70	8	89.7%	< 0.0001
10⁴ ~ 10⁶	143	114	29	79.7%	143	0	100%	< 0.0001
≥ 10⁷	20	18	2	90%	20	0	100%	0.0793
Total	241	147	94	61%	233	8	96.7%	< 0.0001

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