Corona 19 test is difficult if you do it with your nose, but it's a little more comfortable if you do it with your mouth.
Then why not do it by mouth?
Would it be inaccurate, especially with saliva in the mouth?
These days, I get this question a lot.
In the field, most of the tests are done through the nose, so there are so many posts on mom cafes and portal sites asking you to tell where the tests are done with the mouth.
Recently, the number of underage infections is increasing, especially in children.
But this method, not saliva, is taking cells from the mouth.
This is because, in Korea, corona PCR testing is possible for both nose and mouth, but saliva is not recognized.
I've seen that using needles reduces accuracy.
Would that be true?
Let's examine each one.
What is the difference between nose and mouth?
Viruses that enter the nose most often go to the cells in the nasal cavity.
It then goes down to the mouth, throat, and lungs, where the volume decreases as it goes down.
Therefore, it is most accurate to test the cells inside the nose with a cotton swab.
This is the PCR test we are familiar with.
How about by mouth?
Cells inside the mouth are stamped out, or saliva or sputum is used.
The virus is also detected in saliva, but not only inside the nose or throat.
The problem is that the nose test catches it too well, so it's called a mask.
What this means is that as vaccination rates have increased, so have the number of people who are immune.
So, there are cases where the virus enters the nose and then just dies, but nasal PCR also tests positive.
On the other hand, saliva mainly contains live, potentially dangerous viruses.
In fact, there are studies showing that many of the viruses from the nose are dead when cultured, and that there are many live viruses that come out of saliva.
So, is a saliva test better?
Once done, a nasal test can better catch the virus.
But can it be said that it is necessarily better?
The situation is changing recently.
A needle test, which was thought to be less accurate, could be better.
In a Korean study, it was also found that the sputum or saliva test was similar in accuracy to the nasal test.
According to a Japanese study, acupuncture is better for asymptomatic or mildly confirmed patients.
Even if the symptoms are mild, there are people who are at high risk of infection because the virus is actively multiplying, and in this case, the saliva test detects it better.
So, more and more countries are testing saliva.
If you look at the website of the British Department of Health, it kindly explains how to test children with saliva.
In the United States, it is written that children can be tested through their nose or with saliva.
For adults, the US, UK, and Japan also have acupuncture options as an option, and Canada is also under consideration.
So, can we effectively deal with mutations like Omicron with acupuncture?
no.
Even if it is done with saliva, the PCR method takes a lot of time.
After being infected with Delta, it infects others for 3 days asymptomatic, 5 days after symptoms, and an average of 8 days. As a result of analysis by the National Medical Center, it usually takes about 4 days to undergo PCR testing and quarantine after symptoms appear.
Delta is also like this, and the faster omicrons require faster tests, such as rapid antigen tests, at the cost of less accuracy.
(Video coverage: Jeong Seong-hwa·Kim Yong-woo, video editing: Park Ji-in, CG: Shim Soo-hyun)