Scientists say they are more effective
This week, China became official that from now on, as a preventive measure, will ask foreigners as a requirement to deliver a negative COVID-19 anal test.
The tests that have been described by thousands on social networks as ‘humiliating’, were approved a few months ago by specialists in the Asian country because they may be more effective in detecting the disease.
The ‘quarantine’ requirements were established in Beijing and Shandong province.
According to studies by Dr. Li Tongseng from You An Hospital in Beijing, the coronavirus remains alive longer in the anus than in the respiratory tract.
China has been singled out due to the discomfort that such a test could generate to travelers intending to reach their country.
Why is it more reliable?
The anal swab test is said to give better results than the nasal one.
It has been said that some patients have tested positive with samples from the lower digestive tract several days after nasal or throat swabs began to give negative results.
“If we add anal swab testing, it can raise our rate of identifying infected patients,” Li Tongzeng, an infectious disease specialist at Beijing You’an Hospital, said, as reported by The Washington Post.
“But of course, considering that collecting anal swabs is not as convenient as throat swabs, at the moment only key groups such as those in quarantine receive both.”
Source: marca.com
