The uncomfortable coronavirus swab could become a thing of the past as researchers work to perfect a saliva test. But does it actually work?
But researchers at Melbourne’s Doherty Institute hope their fast-tracked saliva test, which involves simply spitting in a cup, could help those unable or unwilling to do a nasal swab.
The test Australia currently uses to detect coronavirus is a polymerase chain reaction and is done with a swab of the nose and throat.An elderly man is swabbed for coronavirus in Melbourne. Picture: Asanka Ratnayake/Getty ImagesThe new saliva test still uses PCR - but is done by testing saliva rather than the nose and throat for coronavirus.
“The test was first validated on 600 specimens collected at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and actually performed well,” Prof Lewin said.“The advantage of the saliva test is that it is much more acceptable for people to give a specimen, people just need to collect saliva in their mouth for a minute or two and then spit it into a small jar and then that gets sent off to the laboratory.”
A pilot is underway in the UK to saliva test 14,000 healthcare workers and the US’ Food and Drug Administration also recently asked for emergency approval on a new home saliva test. “The use of laboratory testing in these huge volumes as a public health strategy has not been tried for previous infectious diseases outbreaks. This has required a scaling up of laboratory capacity far beyond its usual purpose of diagnosing infection for clinical care.
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