Spitting into a cup sounds like a walk in the park compared to having a swab stuck down your throat or up your nose so here's what you need to know about the new saliva testing that's taking place in Melbourne.
It's not just children though, those in vulnerable categories including the elderly, particularly those with dementia, or some people with disabilities may prefer this method of detection."We might get more tests done and a broader range of the population, because people who might not have gone to get a test because they don't like the idea of having a swab down their throat might now be more amenable," he says.
Half of that donation was spread between three projects, one being the investigation of saliva as an alternative diagnostic specimen for COVID-19. Just last week the UK announced a four-week trial of at-home saliva testing and in May the US Food and Drug Administration permitted one lab to start selling at-home saliva collection kits.The benefits of saliva testing far outweigh the disadvantages, Professor Turner says.
"We're in this great position where we don't have a lot of cases so we don't have the same urgency. We can afford to do things like this and expand the knowledge and that can be leveraged by other places around the world as well."
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