The FDA-authorized tests call for a nasal swab. Some doctors are tweeting that they're doing a throat swab too — though they don't recommend this step to the public. Here's a look at the swab debate.
A COVID-19 home test in the U.S. comes with a swab to swirl in the nostrils. But some users say they're swabbing the throat too — even though that's not what the instructions say to do."They may stab themselves," cautions Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting head of the Food and Drug Administration.
The idea of improvising with a throat swab is connected to the omicron variant, which was identified in late November and has swept the world. Researchers increasingly believe omicron may replicate in the throat before the nose.in South Africa. Researchers examined the ability of PCR tests to detect the variant by comparing diagnostic tests for 382 symptomatic COVID-19 patients who weren't hospitalized.
That's not an authorized use of the kits, reminds the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the kits:"FACT: When it comes to at-home rapid antigen #COVID19 tests, those swabs are for your nose and not your throat," it said in a tweet issued on Jan. 7. "The tests haven't been designed to do [throat swabs], so we don't know whether there are false positives or negatives," agrees Dr.
The public debate about the best way to swab has prompted a growing chorus of voices to call for new studies and a revamping of the kits and/or the instructions.is hoping for. Tal, an instructor at Stanford University's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a proponent of throat swabs.
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