Apart from the snipers, the policy is a real policy – at least in China.
The Communist superpower is launching an extensive COVID-19 testing program to include anal patches for high-risk patients, calling it a more accurate method than nose and throat testing, according to a report by The Washington Post.
The myriad of word players, China’s health experts believe that science is solid and that the method should be applied to some of their citizens who are at risk.
However, the tests are not as easy to administer or pleasant to endure – for obvious reasons – compared to more conventional testing methods. Therefore, they are mainly performed on high-risk patients and those who have been quarantined, reports The Guardian.
Young students in Beijing have been tested for the virus in various ways, including nose, throat and anal blisters, according to a report in The Global Times earlier this month.
“I believe that anal swabs for COVID-19 PCR are advanced as a test because the viral load in the rectum may be higher than the nasopharynx,” said Dr. David Cennimo, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, in an email. “Theoretically, the test should be more sensitive because the virus can be detected more easily with a higher copy number.”
However, do not expect to see coronavirus anal swabs in New Jersey soon, he added.
“But the virus also occurs in feces / rectal samples after it has been removed from the nasopharynx,” he said. ‘It can lead to overdiagnosis of people who have recovered and only have persistent PCR positive [results]. Either way, I do not see it as a strategy conducive to testing large numbers of people in the real world, as I would expect significant numbers to decline. If this happens, we could exacerbate the epidemic because people will actively avoid the test and spread the virus while not being diagnosed. ”
Health officials in China recently took anal swab tests more seriously, citing studies that found the virus survives longer in the lower digestive tract and in feces than in the airways, reports the Global Times.
China has introduced the new test protocols, pointing out that some COVID-19 patients still recovering in hospital have tested negative through nose and throat tests, according to the Washington Post.
In August, Chinese researchers published a report on anal swab tests, suggesting that it ‘is the potentially optimal sample for SARS-CoV-2 detection for evaluating discharge of COVID-19 patients in the hospital.’
It is unclear if anything like this could ever be introduced in the US. According to the Washington Post, even Chinese residents believe the new protocols will leave patients ashamed. The report cited a poll on a Chinese social media platform which found that 80% of respondents could not accept such a method.
Draconian measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 are nothing new in China.
It shut down Wuhan – a city of 11 million people – for months. Millions have been rounded up for mandatory tests, including overnight flash tests, with people adorned in the dark in the street, the Washington Post reports. And health officials sometimes have sealed apartment buildings to prevent people from leaving.
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Spencer Kent can be reached at [email protected].