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Is saliva testing better? Five things to know about the new COVID-19 test.

2greys profile image
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Early in the pandemic, it became clear that testing for COVID-19 might be key to controlling outbreaks. But the existing tests have presented logistical challenges. Health officials have been clamoring for a cheaper, easier, and quicker test that would boost the country’s testing capability, which is needed to paint a more accurate picture of the virus’s spread. Patients who test positive could be notified sooner. And quicker implementation of measures to prevent the spread, such as quarantines, could slow transmission rates.

Early research has suggested that a saliva test may be a step in the right direction—and now the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given emergency use authorization (EUA) to SalivaDirect, a diagnostic test method created by Yale researchers. (The laboratory development and validation of SalivaDirect was performed by Chantal Vogels, PhD, a Yale School of Public Health postdoctoral fellow, and Doug Brackney, PhD, adjunct assistant clinical professor.)

One of the benefits of SalivaDirect is its simple design. Basically, a patient spits into any sterilized container—a special vial is not needed—and hands the sample over to a medical professional. The sample is then sent to a lab for processing.

yalemedicine.org/stories/5-...

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2greys
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SORRELHIPPO profile image
SORRELHIPPO

This looks helpful, especially if it turns out to be over 90% accurate, I am concerned about the false negatives, when these allow people back into a full social life. If results are only 75% accurate, will cause quite a lot of problems.

watergazer profile image
watergazer

I suppose it's like all new disease- it will take a while to find a test that will get really accurate results x

2greys profile image
2greys in reply to watergazer

That may possibly never happen. We could run out of time.

Coronavirus pandemic could be over within two years - WHO head:

bbc.co.uk/news/world-53870798

HungryHufflepuff profile image
HungryHufflepuff in reply to 2greys

The next story on the BBC says the virus may never be over 🙄 Good old BBC impartiality.

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