To overcome children's fears of nasal swab

“Education and Knowledge” adopts saliva examination for people of determination and students under 12 years old

  • Saliva examination contributes to detecting students infected with “Corona” in schools.

    From the source

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The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge has announced the adoption of a saliva test to detect the “Covid-19” virus, as an alternative to the “PCR” nasal swab examination for children in the emirate’s schools from kindergarten to 12 years old, in addition to students of determination, to encourage children at all times. In schools and overcoming their fear of performing a nasal swab.

In detail, the department sent a circular to private schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in which it specified the locations and times of the PCR test for students and staff of each school, and stressed the need for both students and school staff to maintain the validity of the PCR test for a period of 14 days by making sure that they visit the same designated center to obtain a PCR test Free.

The department provided school staff and students with the option to obtain a PCR test at any special examination center of their choice at their own expense, while those with young children (less than 12 years) or students of determination will have the option of a salivary PCR test, instead of a nasal PCR test. .

She indicated that there may be varying start dates for students according to grades depending on the school reopening forms, and accordingly, they must ensure that they have a negative test that is valid for 14 days before their first day of going to school physically, stressing that the school is responsible for ensuring compliance with all Someone who actually goes to school for these requirements.

Administrators in private schools, Maitham Muhammad, Hala Sayed, Noura Hamdi, and Fatima Khalaf, confirmed that each school directed its students and teachers to the place of examination specified for them, and asked them to copy the school number to present it at the examination center to obtain a free PCR test, while all students will be obligated to renew Examination and obtaining a negative result every 14 days, even if the child has received the “Covid-19” vaccine.

They pointed out that all students, educational and academic staff will be obligated to sign the declaration of the pledge on the health status, which stipulates not to be infected with “Corona” or contact with an infected person, and to oblige the educational facility to manage the entry and exit process and follow the precautionary measures.

On the other hand, the parents of students, Maha Muwafi, Muhammad Shukri, Magda Ahmed, Radwa Mousa, and Mehitab Sadiq, confirmed that the approval of a periodic examination of vaccinated and unvaccinated students is an important preventive measure that increases the safety and security of the educational field, and the implementation of a successful academic year, noting that Making saliva examination available as an alternative to a nasal swab will contribute to encouraging them to choose the full-time model in schools, especially since young children have a fear of taking a nose swab, which leads their parents to fear doing it.

While doctors and nurses confirmed that the examination of saliva samples had previously been relied upon during the last academic year as an alternative method for diagnostic detection and quantitative measurement of the “Corona” virus for school students, as it is the preferred alternative to nasopharyngeal swabs (PCR) for children aged 12 years and under because it is less invasive. , stressing that the use of saliva samples examination provides a number of advantages, including allowing self-collection of the sample and therefore does not require specialized technicians to collect the sample, reducing the risk of infection transmission for health care workers, less invasive than PCR during sample taking, and facilitating the examination on a large scale. In addition, it is characterized by its stability at room temperature.

The protocol for operating educational facilities during the “Covid-19” pandemic, issued by the National Authority for Emergency, Crisis and Disaster Management, specified the controls concerned with operating educational facilities, including nurseries, child care centers, public and private school education, in addition to public and private higher education, training centers and institutes. , in various regions of the country, and obligated all vaccinated and non-vaccinated students to conduct a PCR examination every two weeks during the first 30 days of the start of the study, and to conduct a monthly PCR examination for all students under 12 years of age and non-vaccinated students and vaccinated students from 12 years of age and above, and to conduct a weekly examination for all Non-vaccinated students 12 years of age or older.

Examination requirements

The requirements for using saliva examination, issued by health authorities in the country, made it possible to reasonably use a saliva examination instead of nasopharyngeal swabs (PCR) when the patient cannot tolerate these swabs, pointing out that saliva samples are more reliable in patients in the early stages of the disease. Salivary viral concentrations are highest during the first week of symptom onset.

The requirements confirmed that obtaining the optimal test for saliva examination requires the availability of at least three conditions through standardization and verification, including choosing and improving a specific method for collecting saliva samples after conducting a systematic comparison of the different methods currently used to collect samples of complete saliva in other clinical and scientific contexts, and finding a solution Optimization for collecting, transporting and storing saliva samples, in addition to improving the method of screening RNA, either by reverse transcription, or isothermal cyclic amplification.

• Students, educational and academic staff are obligated to sign the declaration of commitment to the health status.

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