 The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of salivary swabs, SS, in detecting SARS-CoV-2 in children with lower respiratory tract infections, LRTIs. The results showed that SS had a relatively low sensitivity in detecting common respiratory viruses in children, with a lower probability in younger children, and in particular those younger than six months of age, or those from whom we have collected lesser amounts of saliva. New strategies to improve saliva collection are needed for testing on a larger study population. This article was authored by Danilo Boincenzo, Piero Valentini, Francesco Mariani, and others.