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Should I use a throat swab for my Covid test at home?

 


As For Omicron Continuing to dominate the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is being urged to gather more information on how well it works. Covid-19 test at home You can detect variants.

The evidence is Omicron variant The virus may appear in the throat before it appears in the nose. For this reason, the FDA is under pressure to recommend wiping the throat with a nasal swab. However, medical experts argue that anecdotes from people who are negative for nasal swabs at home but tested positive for throat swabs can be misleading. FDA officials say there is not enough data to support this practice.

“We know the test is being done in Omicron, but it’s less sensitive,” FDA Deputy Commissioner Janet Woodcock said at a Senate Health Commission hearing on Tuesday. “What we have to do is see if the swabs in the throat can provide higher sensitivity.”

The FDA is studying how home tests work as throat tests. If the findings support it, approval may come soon, Woodcock said. However, redesigning your home test to accommodate larger swabs will take longer.

None of Home rapid antigen test Available in stores in the United States, it is designed for throat swabs. There is also a reason for medical professionals to use swabs in the throat for other infections such as streptococcal pharyngitis. It’s not easy to wipe the back of your throat.

“People should not try to wipe their throat with a swab designed as a swab for the nose,” Woodcock said in a Senate hearing. “They may stab themselves.”

United Kingdom National Health Service recommendation Wipe both nose and throat when using the type of rapid antigen used at home, or later flow, the Covid test. However, authorities do not just recommend taking samples from the throat. Earlier this week, the Israeli Ministry of Health advised people to wipe both their nose and throat when using a quick test at home.

Michael Mina, Chief Science Officer at eMed, a biotechnology software company who was an assistant professor of epidemiology at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said: This week’s test technology news briefing. “My recommendations are all of the FDA’s guidance on this, but science must also be followed.”

The FDA, on the other hand, currently advises not to take samples from the throat when using rapid diagnostics at home.

“Authorities recommend that individuals strictly follow the test instructions,” FDA spokesman Jim McKinney told NBC News in an email. “We always know that antigen testing is less sensitive than molecular testing. If you suspect you are infected with Covid-19, you should have a follow-up PCR test to get a negative result. Yes. If your antigen test is positive, you need to self-isolate and seek follow-up care from your healthcare provider to determine the next step. “

Unless you are a medical professional, it can be difficult to actually get a good sample from your throat.

Dr. Jonathan Lee, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Dr. Jonathan Lee, an infectious disease specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, warns against changing testing strategies validated and approved by the FDA. However, he also hasn’t seen any data that would support taking a quick test sample from the throat, but said, “Theoretically, that could be useful.”

“What we have learned is that every variant seems to have its own characteristics. Don’t be bound by thinking that you know everything based on what you learned from the last variant. Is important, “he said. “We don’t always want to fight the last war. If anything has changed in Omicron, pursue it and decide if there is something else to do with this variant. It is important to do. “

Before advocating a modified approach, he said he would need to look at data showing that it was effective. Self-administered throat swabs are more likely to have higher user error than nasal swabs, he said.

“If you wipe the back of your throat, there’s a lot of virus there, and if you have a very good sample, there’s no essential reason why a swab in your throat won’t work for a rapid test,” he said. rice field. “But usually people get nauseous and it can be difficult to actually get a good sample from the throat unless you are a medical professional.”

Melissa Miller, chairman of the American Society for Microbiology’s Clinical and Public Health Microbiology Committee, said another potential risk of wiping the throat at home — food and drink residues can cause false positives. Said.

“The pH levels in the nose and throat are different. I’ve seen people drink coke and coffee, do antigen tests, and see lines appear,” she said. “I don’t know exactly why this happens, but the hypothesis is acidity.”

“I’m not saying I’m not going to find that I can use a swab in my throat. I still don’t know how it will affect the test results,” she said.

When do I need to take the Covid test at home?

The mirror is small Preprint paper From South Africa, Although not yet peer-reviewed, this study compared PCR with antigens or rapid testing, but compared to delta variants, there is a virus that can be detected in the throat rather than the nose when a person is infected with Omicron. It suggests that there is a possibility of doing so. Not the same type of test.

“Still, it’s not surprising that it’s true, as it shows that the virus is likely to be in the nose before. But how it’s tested at home. You need to be careful about whether it will be reflected, “she said.

Miller said it wouldn’t be surprising if Omicron actually appeared in the throat before it actually appeared in the nose, but no specific data have been given yet.

“I have been critical of some of the FDA’s moves in the past, but I advise you to be careful not to use these tests off-label before evidence is available,” she said.

According to Matt Vinicker, Dean of the Department of Clinical Virology at Mayo Clinic, the fact that positive rates are skyrocketing in the United States is evidence that the Covid test is still working well.

“For Omicron, if there was something in the throat but not in the nasal passages, the positive rate wouldn’t be as high as it was in the last three weeks,” he said. “Hey, my friend has collected a swab in my throat, so everyone should do it” before I go to Twitter and say, “I need to collect data. “

According to Miller, if the test is negative but the symptoms persist, it is best to have a rapid test on the first, second, and third days of the symptoms. It also needs to be separated.

“If you have symptoms, you have Covid until it proves not,” she said.

Binnicker is recommended to be tested 3-4 days after exposure to Covid, even if it is asymptomatic.

Sources

1/ https://Google.com/

2/ https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/throat-swab-home-covid-test-rcna12096

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