The Ministry of Public Health says that they have begun to apply a saliva test to detect the coronavirus. The new approach to help diagnose Covid-19 expands the testing options and reduces risks of infection for health care workers. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the test.
The new test option is added to the rapid response blood antibody tests and the PCR test that requires a swab from a patient’s nose or throat. With the new saliva-based test, patients are given a plastic tube into which they spit several times. They then hand the tube back to the health care worker for lab processing.
Saliva tests here are part of the initiatives unfolded by the Emergency and Health Management Committee for Covid-19 under Dr. Amado Alejandro Báez. The entity reported that it began last week the implementation of a validation model for the use of saliva in sample collection for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the detection of Covid-19.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed the validity of the procedure being carried out by Dominican professionals and the Management Committee, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health and laboratory expert Patricia de León of the Laboratorios Referencia. Leon is a member of the Emergency and Health Management Committee for Covid-19.
Dr. Báez said the results proved the usefulness of applying saliva samples for the diagnosis and subsequent monitoring of people suspected of being infected.
A press release explains that the verification of saliva’s use as a viable methodology for the detection of Covid-19 was carried out under emergency conditions, given the current situation and the global shortage of nose and throat swabs recommended for testing.
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Listin Diario
Slltrib
16 April 2020