The articles that I have read about whether or not it makes sense to swab the throat are confusing to me. The tests that have been available to me (at least four different brands for the home tests I have on hand or have taken) are all designed for swabbing nasal passages, and I have no idea if the saliva Ph being different in the mouth invalidates these particular tests. And if so, would it cause a false positive, or a false negative?
It seems that other countries (I am US based) have tests available that are designed for swabbing the throat or swabbing both throat and nasal passages. (Then there is the question of whether or not to swab the nasal passage and the throat in one test, or separate swabs and separate tests, or separate swabs but combined tests, etc). Iām trying to keep up with guidance and science and want to be taking home tests in the most effective manner possible!
I can say it took a sneezing fit while the swab was up my nose for me to test positive (I wouldnāt recommend, fyi) despite swabbing to the point of a bloody nose before that just. In my case we were all pretty certain I had it since sibling and siblingās spouse both did and I had some (thankfully minor) symptoms, but with a dry nose Iād probably look for a test that allowed a throat swab if I was hunting again.
I do not know the details of how she tested. We are in the US, so it definitely would have been a matter of her just taking a test designed for the nose but gagging herself with it.
Last month, I finally got the positive I needed to get antivirals (after my oxygen saturation started dropping) by taking a US-standard nose test and swabbing first throat, then nostrils with it. Before that Iād tested negative three times despite the symptoms.
I just saw something on the news saying that soon covid shots and treatment are going to stop being free and paid for by the government. I guess it couldnāt go on forever.
Iāve seen some anecdotes that adding acid (orange juice or Coca Cola) to the testing liquid can cause a false positive, and that the pH if your throat is different from your nose and therefore might flag a false positive (especially if youāve eaten or drunk anything in the last 30 minutes). Because of all that, I havenāt tried a throat swab (even though Iāve aaaaalmost done it 2-3 times) because I still wouldnāt trust either a negative OR a positive off it.
If the point is to get a positive test for early paxlovid prescription in the case that Iām 95% sure I have covid than Iād definitely do a throat swab.
Iām at the point now where reading this kind of thing about COVID makes me mad.
Like thanks? I guess? Is science important? Yeah. I get that theyāre going to study this thing forever. But thereās something about the way this is framed that irks meālike now that COVID has become so difficult to detect itās the average personās fault itās spreading because weāre not all testing after every single social thing? But my own damn employer will ask/make anyone with COVID go to the office after just 5 days, even if theyāre still testing positive, per the CDC? So uhhhh
Idk. Iām not even making sense to myself so Iāll see myself to bed now
I suspect Iām one of those people, because itās just so unlikely that I havenāt gotten COVID by now! One time I got some cold symptoms but didnāt test positive.
Same. I think I heard that if you donate blood they check (or used to anyway) for covid antibodies or something and Iām very slightly tempted to try just because I feel like we must have been exposed at some point by now. I donāt know if thatās still true, though, or of theyāre testing a useful thing.
There is evidently a Covid antibody test that you can buy at the pharmacy. I havenāt done so, and as far as I know I havenāt had Covid, but I read the sign every month when I pick up my bag of free tests.
Antibody tests are definitely useful, thatās how I knew my March 2020 infection was covid. But youād have to get it done relatively soon after your suspected case, within a few months. Iām not sure exactly when my antibodies went away but they were gone after month 11.
We donāt keep all the antibodies out all the time. Once weāre get an infection/illness then our immune system can go āoh, itās that thing, I know how to fight that thingā if weāve had that virus before or been vaccinated, and then it produces the specific white blood cells for that thing. After the illness passes those cells eventually will go away. Thereās hundreds of different ācommon coldā viruses so if we had all the white blood cells out all the time I imagine my veins would be pretty crowded.
The vaccines generate antibodies specific to the spike protein they are protective against. An illness can result in additional antibodies so itās possible to test for each separately.
What Sunflower said. When I got my results back from the Red Cross it had the spike antibodies listed separately than the capsid antibodies (capsid is the protein shell that the spike protein is attached to). So I was positive on spike because thatās what the vaccine is against but negative for capsid because I hadnāt yet had covid
Of the 210 people who likely contracted the omicron variant ā based on antibodies in their blood ā 56% percent did not know they had the virus, the researchers found.
They also found that only 10% of those who were unaware reported having any symptoms relating to a common cold or other type of infection.
I know they have more research to do but Iām curious what this means in terms of long Covid for people that had antibodies and didnāt even report experiencing cold symptoms. Iād have to imagine that theyāre much less likely to experience long Covid because their body obviously didnāt have a significant reaction at the time? If someone fifty years from now could come back in a time machine and tell us that would be spiffy.