With repeated epidemics, nucleic acid testing and throat swabs seem to have become part of our lives. We also all know where to go for nucleic acid testing, but what actually happens during a swab test? What are the tests for COVID-19? If you haven’t done nucleic acid testing, you may wish to read this article first. This article will popularize five things about Oral Swab testing.
On this page, you will learn:
What are the tests for COVID-19?
How to do an oral swab for COVID-19?
Where to get COVID-19 Specimen?
What is the most reliable test for COVID-19?
What are the tests for COVID-19?
Oral swabs and nasal swabs or saliva. In the experiments, oral flocked swabs were used to collect samples from the oral cavity for the oral examination.
This is different from a saliva test, which spits saliva into a small container.
COVID-19 Test, there are usually two main types of tests:
There are two main methods of nucleic acid detection: acid detection reagents and antibody detection. The first method is usually PCR detection through throat swabs, gene amplification, and then nucleic acid detection.
The antibody test is to choose blood, the method of blood draw to see the results, to observe whether the antibody titer increases.
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How to do a mouth swab for COVID-19?
1. Rinse your mouth with water 30 minutes in advance (no toothpaste, especially breastfed babies need to drink a few mouthfuls of water, and no mouthwash);
2. Mark the envelope with a pen (eg: father, mother or child) and date of collection, name.
3. Hold the CellMedical flocked sampling cotton swab in one hand, put it into the left (right) inner buccal mucosa of the mouth and wipe it repeatedly for 15-20 times (rotate the genetic sampling cotton swab while wiping).
Take out the genetic sampling cotton swab, put it on the envelope or white paper, and dry it in the shade for more than ten minutes until the saliva is completely dry; (the specific location for wiping is the side of the cheek or the inside of the cheek and cheek – for example, the place where the adult pinches the child’s cheek, from the wipe in the mouth)
4. Collect the second cotton swab (the other side) in the same way, and extract three (six in total) genetic sampling cotton swabs from each side;
5. For gene sampling after drying in the shade, we should put the collection cotton swabs in a marked envelope and seal it (please do not use plastic bags or plastic wrap for the sampling cotton swabs)
6. Take the sample to the laboratory as soon as possible for PCR experiments, or you can choose to mail it to the laboratory or hospital.
How to Obtain an Oral Swab Specimen
If you have been in close contact with symptoms of COVID-19 (15 minutes or more in six minutes), you should get tested.
If you have recently been to someone in an area with a positive case, you should do a swab test;
You are a person who recently travelled or travelled for business, you should take the test;
If you and your family members have recently developed suspicious persons such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, sore throat, and decreased sense of smell (taste) during the self-health monitoring process, you should go for a test;
If you have recently held or participated in large-scale, crowded dinners, parties, conferences, training and other large-scale gatherings of people, you should go to the test.
You can talk to your healthcare provider, your local urgent care, or your state or local health department about where to go to get tested (CDC, 2020A).
What is the most reliable test for COVID-19?
You may have seen the rumour circulating that oral swab tests are not as reliable as nasal swabs. But how is this measured?
Expert research has shown that nasal swabs are easier to detect nucleic acid positive, and the sampling time stays longer in the nasopharynx. Larger doses of samples can be obtained, which is the reason for the higher positive rate of nasopharyngeal swabs reported in the literature.
1. Polymerase chain reaction: fluorescence quantitative PCR, which is suitable for a large number of samples and has a low cost;
2. Second-generation gene sequencing: the NGS method, which is more accurate and can read out which generation of nucleotides and viruses the data came from.
For example, the complete data of the nucleotide sequence of the delta virus is available in the database. We compare the resulting virus to the full data, and if we do, it’s a delta virus. There will be subtle differences in the process of virus transmission, even the first and second generations are different, and subtle differences can be found through comparison. Therefore, it is possible to find out who and where the first-generation patient, patient No. 1, came from during the outbreak of this virus in this local community. It is better to use the NGS method to trace the source of the virus.
Both methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and both can very accurately reflect whether the nucleic acid test is positive or not, and both can achieve the purpose of detection. If we need traceability. We compare the collected viral nucleotides with viral databases in all databases to aid in diagnosis and guide treatment.
Still, the information on testing for the new coronavirus continues to evolve, to the point where you may feel like you need to become a medical professional or even know where to go first. If you’re wondering whether to get tested and how it works, we’re here to help. Here’s what you need to know about COVID-19 testing and other options.
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