THREAD:
This is an important study - supports anecdotes and other work by @awyllie13
Virus growing and detectable in saliva days earlier than the nose!
Both PCR & Ag in nose lag saliva 1-3 days
In Nose, PCR is 1 day faster than Ag (As Expected)
1/
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
This is an important study - supports anecdotes and other work by @awyllie13
Virus growing and detectable in saliva days earlier than the nose!
Both PCR & Ag in nose lag saliva 1-3 days
In Nose, PCR is 1 day faster than Ag (As Expected)
1/
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
@awyllie13 Numerous reports show saliva comes up earlier and w Omicron there have been MANY anecdotes that throat swabs (which interact with saliva!) are turning positive BEFORE nasal swabs
And this pre-print suggests people are infectious when saliva turns positive
2/
And this pre-print suggests people are infectious when saliva turns positive
2/
Importantly, people are becoming symptomatic really fast too! As this study suggests
So we can use this to our GREAT advantage...
If beginning to feel Symptomatic - ASSUME positive, ASSUME infectious
w/ limited tests, hold on testing!
3/
So we can use this to our GREAT advantage...
If beginning to feel Symptomatic - ASSUME positive, ASSUME infectious
w/ limited tests, hold on testing!
3/
https://twitter.com/michaelmina_lab/status/1478282520869359616?s=20
What this ALSO shows is the rapid Ag tests are continuing to work w Omicron as before.
Although not much data, the for this thread does do some PCR of nasal specimens and for those, the rapid antigen tests are working the same as before when compared across nasal swabs
4/
Although not much data, the for this thread does do some PCR of nasal specimens and for those, the rapid antigen tests are working the same as before when compared across nasal swabs
4/
Major difference w Omicron is ppl becoming infectious earlier before nasal PCR turning Pos and before nasal antigen is turning Pos
So as far as infection of Omicron is concerned, the biology is pushing more towards early transmission, detectable only in first days w Saliva
5/
So as far as infection of Omicron is concerned, the biology is pushing more towards early transmission, detectable only in first days w Saliva
5/
Does it mean tests with nasal swabs are no longer appropriate?
No, biology means must pay attention to symptoms - assume Pos at first
Unfortunately even w added 1-3 days earlier detection in saliva, accessibility/speed mean fastest tool for detection often still rapid test
6/
No, biology means must pay attention to symptoms - assume Pos at first
Unfortunately even w added 1-3 days earlier detection in saliva, accessibility/speed mean fastest tool for detection often still rapid test
6/
I hope this new research will push manufacturers to really look into using saliva for rapid tests...
We now have rapid Molecular Tests, we also have rapid Antigen tests
We should be rigorously looking into throat swabs to add some level of sensitivity even if not saliva
7/
We now have rapid Molecular Tests, we also have rapid Antigen tests
We should be rigorously looking into throat swabs to add some level of sensitivity even if not saliva
7/
The study also supports that PCR remains positive longer than people are infectious
The earlier sensitivity is beneficial if you happen to get the saliva sample in those first 1-3 days of positivity
Rapid Ag still positive most days of infectiousness, and not beyond.
8/
The earlier sensitivity is beneficial if you happen to get the saliva sample in those first 1-3 days of positivity
Rapid Ag still positive most days of infectiousness, and not beyond.
8/
Finally - I would have suggested a title that focused more on what the study really looked at
Discordance in sensitivity based on sampling site: SALIVA vs NASAL was the most important difference.
Antigen vs PCR given same sampling site remained as expected.
9/
Discordance in sensitivity based on sampling site: SALIVA vs NASAL was the most important difference.
Antigen vs PCR given same sampling site remained as expected.
9/
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