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Explainer: Swabbing the throat — does it work better for ART kits?

Manufacturers of antigen rapid test kits do not recommend doing throat swabs at home.
Manufacturers of antigen rapid test kits do not recommend doing throat swabs at home.

A hack to increase the sensitivity of Antigen Rapid Test (ART) kits is making the rounds on social media, calling on people to swab the throat instead of the nose.

This comes amid mounting evidence is showing that the Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, reproduces faster in the throat than in the lungs. 

In practice, however, there are also plenty of reasons why test kit manufacturers do not recommend throat swabs. For one thing, the risk of a contaminated sample could cause false results, and it is generally easier to contaminate a throat swab after eating or drinking, or even by gagging.

Another compelling reason to avoid throat swabs is that it could be dangerous in a self-testing scenario, especially for people unfamiliar with swabbing. Current swabs provided with test kits are meant only for nasal use.

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