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Beijing tests for COVID-19 using anal swabs, where virus may survive longer
Published on: 2021-01-25
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Beijing reported a 9-year-old boy tested positive for COVID-19 last week, and his school conducted a variety of tests including serum antibody tests, nasal, throat, and even anal swabs for all its staff and students, prompting many to wonder if anal swabs could be more accurate in detecting the virus than other measures.
 

Li Tongzeng, a deputy director in charge of infectious disease at Beijing You'an Hospital, said that studies have shown that the coronavirus survives longer in the anus or excrement than those taken from upper body tracts, and for some silent carriers the virus may be present in their throats for 3 to 5 days, allowing some tests to provide false negative results.
 

Taking an anal swab could increase accuracy in key groups, Li noted. However, given that the method is not as convenient as throat swabs, it will only be applied to key groups at quarantine centers.
 

Meanwhile, the testing method has been controversial among experts. Yang Zhanqiu, a deputy director of the pathogen biology department at Wuhan University, said that since the virus has proven to be contracted via the upper respiratory tract rather than the digestive system, the most efficient tests are still nasal and throat swabs.
 

Beijing will also conduct serum antibody tests for all inbound overseas travelers who have entered the Chinese capital city since December 10 in an effort to find the chain of transmission in the latest cluster infections in the capital's Daxing district, the Beijing government said on Friday.
 

Chinese health experts said antibody tests for inbound travelers revealed that the outbreak in Daxing district began a month before the first case was reported on Sunday, and nucleic acid testing won't be able to find the first patient.
 

核酸检测增加肛拭子采样

1月18日,北京新增1例无症状感染者为9岁男童。该男童之后出现发热等症状,被诊断为确诊病例。
 

1月20日,北京市新冠肺炎疫情防控新闻发布会上介绍,已对病例所在学校全体学生、教职工等进行了鼻咽拭子、口咽拭子、肛拭子及血清检测。
 

北京佑安医院呼吸与感染疾病科副主任医师李侗曾接受采访时介绍,在对疫情相关人群做新冠肺炎筛查时,主要采用口咽拭子核酸检测,原因是方便快捷,适合大规模筛查。鼻咽拭子做新冠核酸检测的准确率比口咽拭子高一些,但人体感觉不太舒服。
 

对于一些无症状感染者或轻症感染者来说,感染后病情恢复得很快,可能3至5天咽部核酸就检测不到了。

通过研究发现,一部分感染者粪便或肛拭子核酸阳性的持续时间比上呼吸道持续时间更长。因此,增加肛拭子核酸检测能够提高感染者检出率,减少漏诊。

李侗曾表示,考虑到肛拭子采集不如咽拭子便捷,目前只对隔离点等重点人群同时采集咽拭子和肛拭子。新冠肺炎感染者血清抗体持续时间更长,大部分可以超过半年,必要时还会对重点人群加测血清抗体。这么做的目的也是提高检出率,降低假阴性的概率。

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