For Coronavirus Testing, the Nose May Not Always Be Best

[brooklynite]

Source: New York Times

Over the past two years, diagnosing a coronavirus infection has often required probing the nose. Health care workers have inserted slender swabs deep into the recesses of Americans’ nasal passages, while at-home test kits have asked us to master the shallow double-nostril twirl.

“The traditional approach to diagnosing respiratory infections has been to go after the nose,” said Dr. Donald Milton, an expert on respiratory viruses at the University of Maryland.

But the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, and questions about the sensitivity of at-home tests, have rekindled a debate over whether the best way to detect the virus is to sample a different site: the mouth.

“The virus shows up first in your mouth and throat,” Dr. Milton said. “That means that the approach we’re taking to testing has problems.”

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/health/saliva-testing-coronavirus-omicron.html

[Rebl2]

1. I read

somewhere (don’t remember where) this morning the exact opposite. Swabbing the throat not the best way to test. So 🤬 frustrating.

[doc03]

2. Here we go again the MSM has been criticiseing the

Biden Administration, not enough testing. They are
giving everyone free tests now. Same day NYT finds a doctor that says nasal swab home tests aren't accurate. WTF. Don't need a mask. got to wear a mask, you need a shot, a second shot, a third shot and after buying a hundred f---g masks they aren't any good. You have to have a N95 or something. Damn is this ever ending?

[groundloop]

3. But you can bet your ass that GQPer's will blame President Biden

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. Don't say "bet your ass"! The next gen tests could be anal swabs.

There's no "up side" to that, except the lines of cars will be shorter.

[deelee]

8. With people hanging BA's out their window as they drive by

[JanMichael]

10. Ha! Yes. I don't think I'll wait for 60 minutes in a car tango line for that.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

[Rebl2]

6. I do wish

the Biden administration had sent out free testing kits last fall with the anticipation of cases rising once the weather got colder and people being inside more. Also the possibility of a new variant emerging.

[bluestateboomer]

4. Saliva Testing May Be the Way to go

Viking Cruise Lines tests everyone onboard their cruises by taking daily saliva samples and processing them in shipboard laboratories. This way they identify and isolate infected passengers and crew thereby keeping transmission at a minimum. Not zero, but very low numbers for their cruises.

[winstars]

5. Been tested many times in the UK, swab the throat, then nose. Every time. (In that order!)

[Delphinus]

9. And do they

use the same swab?

[winstars]

12. Yes

[JanMichael]

11. Yeah reverse would be gross.

[cliffside]

13. My relatives said the same thing and getting tests was not a problem ...

the only difference I see is their national HC system.