Do you know thee best way to undergo COVID-19 testing? Well, it’s none other than nasopharyngeal swabs taken inside your nostrils. These are far more better than taking saliva test under the tongue, as per Cornell researchers.
The recent findings also showed that detection rates were quite lower in asymptomatic patients.
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Finding the Best Way to Undergo COVID-19 Testing
Earlier, researchers were skeptical for the most accurate COVID-19 testing.
But gradually, they came to know that the most effective way of COVID-19 testing is by taking nasal jabs. In order to prove this, they obtained samples from several patients of Tompkins County.
The scientists decided to use as many as four samples to decide their effectiveness. They used sublingual swabs (under the tongue), anterior nares swabs (front of the nostril), and nasopharyngeal swabs.
It was later notified that a sample type must allow the most reliable detection of COVID-19 virus without compromising the sensitivity of its detection in any way.
In addition to the above, researchers also collected some other samples from individuals who were either post-symptomatic, asymptomatic and symptomatic. They also tested those who recovered from illness.
After comparing all the sample types, they came to know that nasopharyngeal samples stood first in being the best rate of detection (90-100% accuracy).
The reason for this is the virus generally replicates in the nasal turbinate which is the tissue structure in the upper portion of the nose.
On the other hand, COVID-19 testing taken in the form of saliva specimens and anterior nares in symptomatic patients were found to be in the range between 92-96% accuracy.
The above detection rate was quite lower as compared to the samples from asymptomatic patients (75% to 92%).. In the same ways, COVID-19 testing for SARS-CoV-2 among sublingual specimens were quite lower as they had detection rates with 40-60% accuracy only.
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Nostril Swab Is The Right Specimen Choice For COVID-19 Testing
From the above clinical trials among different patients, it was confirmed that nostril swab happened to be the best for COVID-19 testing.
As it was quite obvious, the most dreaded and infectious samples were found among symptomatic patients. In asymptomatic patients, only one third of the total collected samples were infectious.
But researchers were unable to detect any sort of infection due to coronavirus from post-symptomatic patient samples.
The data is well adhered with the present guidelines issued by the CDC. The new data which came out can be used in the form of practical guidance to many health workers.
Source: Medindia.net
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