UAE: In a recent study led by Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences finds that Saliva screening is as effective as nasal swabs when it comes to testing for Covid-19.
The findings could change the way people are screened and increase testing capacity, as a saliva sample could be self-administered without the help of medical staff. This would also reduce potential exposure of staff to the virus and minimise the amount of medical equipment used.The team took saliva and nasal swabs from 401 for COVID-19 screening. Half of the sample size were asymptomatic.
Studies have suggested that coronavirus initially binds to cells in the body’s nasal cavity and then begins replicating, spreading through the body’s respiratory tract. The virus is understood to then spread to the body’s oral cavity. Previously, it was questioned whether there would be enough virus to be spotted easily with a saliva test. The UAE study, indicates that it is possible.
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