The Chinese recently disclosed the use of anal swabs to screen COVID-19 in patients.
This new test method arrives while China is seeing an increase in new cases of coronavirus ahead of the annual Lunar New Year celebrations.
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The Hill reports that Chinese health professionals only perform COVID-19 anal swab tests on patients considered to be at high risk. However, Forbes notes that some individuals have been forced to do a surprise anal test, including airline passengers who recently arrived in Beijing, as well as more than 1,000 children and teachers at a local school who were allegedly exposed to the virus.
WebMD explains that the test involves inserting a cotton swab covered with saline about 2.5 to 5 centimeters into a person’s rectum to obtain a suitable sample.
The deputy director of the Department of Respiratory and Infectious Diseases at Beijing Youan Hospital, Li Tonzeng, explains that the results of these anal smear tests appear to be more accurate than those performed nasally. This may be due to the fact that the coronavirus lives more in the droppings or in the anal tract than in the respiratory tract.
Some studies have also found that while some patients tested negative for coronavirus after cleaning their throats, they tested positive after receiving anal smears.
However, Bloomberg also reports that there is no clear evidence that transmission of the disease is more common in people with a positive test in their anus.
The anal smear was also not implemented in places like New Zealand, which almost eradicated the presence of the coronavirus.