How Does a Saliva Test Compare To a Swab?(3)
Carolyn Banister, a pharmacologist at the University of South Carolina who helped develop her school’s saliva test, said that the results of the study were “something very similar.” She found that in her own experiments, including between two tests The difference when the viral load is very low. "This is a preliminary study because their numbers are quite low," Bannister told The Scientist. "But all the current information about the new coronary pneumonia is preliminary. We must calmly accept the new data and combine the new findings."
According to Nacher's research results, French health authorities officially announced that saliva testing can be used on symptomatic patients in France and its territories, although Nacher plans to continue to study the effectiveness of saliva to detect asymptomatic cases.
Saliva on the university campus
Under appropriate circumstances, saliva is still useful for tracking asymptomatic infections. For example, university campuses across the United States are using saliva-based tests to screen students and staff.
Bannister said: “Campus is a high-risk environment for the spread of the virus, so even if you do not have traditional symptoms, you are considered to be at risk.” “Because of this...we want to ensure that college students who are not affected by any adverse effects will not The spread has led to an increase in the number of cases across the city."
The University of South Carolina in Columbia recently started using the Banister’s saliva test to test up to 1,200 student volunteers every day, hoping to find invisible infections in students. The university no longer conducts a test for everyone, but repeats the test for students, and the test results will be announced within 24 hours. Through this large-scale test, the university has identified a cluster of campus fraternities and sororities. As of today (October 9), there are 33 active cases among students.
Even though this test is not as sensitive as cotton swabs, the number and repetitions make it possible for you to find infections that were not found the day before. Wylie said: "If they are people who come to the clinic regularly, you may still get quite a bit of information, even if it doesn't appear to be that sensitive." Using saliva to perform a test of this scale also requires less supplies, such as Cotton swabs and reagents have become scarce during the pandemic, and if people only need to spit sputum into a cup, they are more likely to sit and repeat the test.
