• A news article published on the website Newsweek.com claimed that the Chinese government had rolled out the anal swab in the testing of Covid-19.
• From this, the Star has established that it is true that the Chinese Government has approved the anal test for Covid-19.
A news article published on the website Newsweek.com claimed that the Chinese government had rolled out the anal swab in the testing of Covid-19.
The article, which has been widely circulated and shared on social media platforms, said the anal swab was much more accurate compared to the nasal cavity swab.
The Star sought to establish the authenticity of the report: First, if China had approved anal swab and second if it was more accurate compared to the nose, mouth swab.
In our investigations, the Star relied on research papers published in various internationally acclaimed journals and the World Health Organisation.
From this, the Star has established that it is true that the Chinese government has approved the anal test for Covid-19.
The research papers also suggest that the anal test has the ability to detect the Covid-19 virus at earlier stages of the infection
So too, long after a Covid-19 patient tests negative results of the nose and mouth swabs, the anal results could still trace the virus.
A research titled ‘Rectal swabs for Covid-19 diagnosis’ published in April 2020 on the BMJ journal, suggests that while a mouth, nose swab test can produce negative results, a rectal swab on the same patient could indicate traces of Covid-19.
The data also suggest that some patients test positive on rectal swabs in the very first days of Covid-19 onset.
This could explain why the Chinese government favours the anal swab compared to the nose, mouth swab.
A research published on Pubmed.gov suggests that Covid-19 virus is shed through the gastrointestinal system via faeces.
The study took stool samples collected from 100 Covid-19 patients and the results showed that the virus was still positive 24 days after the first negative respiratory swab.
“Based on the experience from the 2003 SARS epidemic, we recommend that fecal RNA testing of SARS-CoV-2 should be incorporated into the discharge criteria to minimize the risk of transmission from the gastrointestinal tract,” the research paper recommends.
The World Health Organisation in 2020 investigated the value of anal swabs positive for 2019-nCoV in patients with Covid-19 and the clinical features of the patients.
In the study, throat swabs, sputum and blood samples, and anal swabs were collected from 104 patients with Covid-19 at admission to test for 2019-nCoV nucleic acid.
The comparison showed that 15 patients whose anal swabs were positive for the virus were selected to analyse the length of time before the samples turned negative in different specimens.
The findings were as follows, patients with positive anal swab test results had reduced white blood cells, enhanced inflammatory response, and higher incidence of severe Covid-19, suggesting that a positive anal swab test might be an indicator of severe Covid-19.
Moreover, the time of sample picked by the anal swabs turning negative was longer than that in throat swabs.
The combined detection of throat swabs and anal swabs would help to predict the occurrence of severe Covid-19.
Thus, it is TRUE to conclude that the Covid-19 anal swab is more accurate than the nose, mouth test.