Is Sore Throat Better for Detecting Omicrons in COVID-19 Rapid Test?

by Sumati Reddy | UPDATED Jan 11, 2022 05:30 AM EST

Some scientists say early infection is missing only in the nasal approach, but the FDA warns against sore throat

A growing debate surrounds whether people testing for Omicron should have their throats strangled.

Most people in the US with a swollen nose are taking the Covid-19 rapid test. The Food and Drug Administration endorses this and directs rapid tests sold in the US.

But some scientists say that throat swabs may be more effective at detecting omicrons. Some are asking the FDA and test makers to better study throat swabs, saying that its reliance on nasal swabs may be one reason why the rapid test is less sensitive at detecting omicrons than previous variants. seem.

Many consumers are also agitated, sometimes after discovering that a throat swab returns a positive test result if not a nasal swab. The #swabyourthroat hashtag is gaining popularity on social media. Some people swell both their nose and throat in hopes of increasing the chances of getting accurate results.

The FDA has warned that nasal rapid antigen tests should be used, as the solicitation took to social media last week to: “Please don’t stick that #COVID19 test goes down your throat. Use the swab as directed: Through the nose.”

The FDA said it has no data to indicate that there is an accurate or appropriate way to conduct a throat swab home test. The agency is also concerned that people could injure themselves by using a sore throat swab because it is more complicated than a nasal swab.

A spokesperson for Abbott Laboratories, which runs Binex Now rapid testing at home, said, “We continue to monitor and evaluate. Our testing is currently indicated for nasal use only.”

The idea that a person can strangle themselves at home for a Covid-19 test is not entirely out of left field. The UK government supports this approach and has a video showing people how to do a throat-nose swab combination. Israel is also supporting throat-nose swabbing technology for rapid antigen tests. On Monday, its health ministry recommended that when people take home antigen tests, they should first clean the back of the mouth and then one nostril.

“There’s enough evidence that we really should try this swabbing technique like the UK is doing,” says Caitlin Zeitlina, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.

Research has suggested that omicron types may be detected in saliva before detection in the nose. Scientists believe the version is first and fastest mimicking the throat; A sore throat is a common first symptom for people infected with Omicron.

Dawn Milton, a professor of environmental and occupational health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, whose lab’s research has shown that saliva tests can detect Covid-19 before nasal swabs, says the approach by federal officials is Waiting to be supported may run the risk of missing out. Infection. Dr. Milton says he thinks it makes sense to do a rapid test in the throat but says more data is needed from the FDA and test makers.

They say that other covid variants may also appear earlier in saliva than nasal inflammation. But with Omicron, infection develops so quickly that catching it early is more imperative to reduce the risk of transmission, he adds.

The potential downside of a sore throat, Dr. Milton notes that the approach may generate more false positives—telling people they are infected when they are not.

“There is a known risk of false negatives with nosebleeds and an unknown risk of false positives with throat swabs. For now you need to decide for yourself which one is at higher risk for you,” Dr. Milton it is said.

Rapid antigen tests have a very low false positive rate because the FDA requires that such tests have 98% specificity, or a 2% false positive rate.

Michal Caspi Tal, an immunologist who splits his time between Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has had a swelling in his and his family’s throat and nose for the past two weeks. She swabs her throat, inside of her mouth and nose with the same swab.

She adds, “If active replication is not happening in our nose with Omicron, or at least not within the first few days, this could fully explain why the rapids are coming back negative from nasal swabs. ” “If we don’t ‘don’t involve the throat, we may miss cases of people who are actually contagious at the moment.