BATON ROUGE: Due to the prevalence of new coronavirus cases and the need for COVID testing to be performed as quickly and efficiently as possible, an increasing number of test sites are causing patients to collect their own samples at self-administered nasal swabs.
But doctors say that if the nasal swabs are not performed correctly, the test results will be inaccurate.
Dr. Connie DeLeo, an infection prevention specialist from Baton Rouge General Regional Medical Center, addressed this concern and said, “If you don’t collect a good swab, you don’t get any viruses in the swab, so the results of your test can a false negative. “
Dr. DeLeo said that doctors and other medical personnel are trained in collection procedures, but the general public is not. As this is the case, it is essential that members of the public using the auto-swab drive-thru test sites make sure they know how to perform a nasal swab correctly.
“I know there are a lot of drive-thurs that are allowing people to collect swabs themselves and I think it’s a great thing because it speeds up the process,” said Dr. DeLeo. “But we have to make sure that people collect that swab correctly.”
This leads to the question of how exactly the swab should be made.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides guidelines in a document detailing collection procedures for health workers.
The four-step procedure is listed below:
1. Tilt the patient’s head back 70 degrees.
2. Insert the swab into the nostril. (The swab should reach a depth equal to the distance from the nostrils to the outer opening of the ear.) Leave the swab in place for several seconds to absorb the secretions.
3. Slowly remove the swab while turning it. (Clean both nostrils with the same swab.)
4. Place the tip of the swab into a sterile tube of viral transport medium and cut / cut the applicator bar.
If anyone doubts your results or is concerned that you have not collected a good sample, doctors strongly suggest that you contact the test site or a specialist who can advise you if you should retake the test.
Health care experts say that if done correctly, autografting is acceptable. Test sites often have a healthcare provider who watches the patient administer the swab, and the kits include instructions on how to do it correctly.
As for why self-assessment is allowed now, when it was conducted only by health professionals at the start of the pandemic, some experts attribute this to the natural progression of how scientists approach new diseases. When there is a new virus, the initial guidelines are usually ultra-conservative.
For example, doctors who tested for COVID-19 used to collect multiple samples from the nose and throat, but also blood and urine samples. As the doctors learned more, that changed. Since then they have dumped blood and urine samples.
Now, federal guidelines allow for self-sampling and even home testing, so different test sites administer different tests.
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