In order to be tested for the coronavirus, a throat swab is usually taken.
A more pleasant variant is the gargle test, which can also be carried out without specialist staff.
In Vienna, if a coronavirus infection * is suspected, children and teachers are to have them tested directly in schools.
Next week, 600,000 test kits with a
gargle solution are to be
delivered, as announced Health
Councilor
Peter Hacker.
If an infection is suspected, children or teachers should
gargle at school
.
The samples should then be sent to the laboratory immediately.
The capacities of the Vienna research laboratories that carry out the gurgle test are to be used for rapid evaluation of the tests
have helped develop.
The
gargle procedure
is
much more comfortable
for people being tested for the coronavirus
than the throat swab, in which a long cotton swab is inserted through the nose or mouth.
You can find out below how the gargle test works and whether it can also be used in Germany.
Alternative coronavirus test: this is how the gargle test works
+
The gargle test is a lot more pleasant than a throat swab with a long cotton swab.
© picture alliance / Sven Hoppe / dpa
The gargle test requires gargling
with a special saline solution for one minute so that particles stick out of the throat, like a swab.
The sample is then analyzed for virus genetic material.
This is how the gargle test works step by step
:
Hands and nose
must be
blown before use
.
Then the
saline solution
contained
in the
test kit is put
into the mouth
and
gargled for one to two minutes
.
Then it is
spat into a tube
, which is then analyzed by a laboratory.
How reliable is the gargle test?
Doctor Hannes Schmidt from the Research Institute for Molecular Pathology in Vienna explains that parallel throat and gurgle tests
would have
led to the same results
- people who tested positive for the coronavirus were tested positive with both methods.
From the point of view of the researchers at the Vienna Institute, the gargle test is
just as reliable
.
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Why is the gargle test not widely used in Germany?
In Germany, the method has not yet been made
socially acceptable
, although it
offers many advantages
: Anyone can carry out the gargle test themselves without the specialist staff having to be present.
This would allow many more people to be tested.
It is also very easy to use and not as uncomfortable as the throat swab.
According to Doctor Schmidt, first graders could also perform the gargle test themselves.
He cannot explain why this procedure is no longer used in Germany.
According to the head of the institute, Professor Doctor Wagner, this may be due to the applicable
regulations for diagnostic procedures.
The gargle test is not a classic diagnosis.
Legislation requires that every plastic part, no matter how small, that is used in diagnostics has to be tested and certified and that the processes have to be 100 percent the same.
However, Professor Wagner believes that the gargle test will sooner or later also be used in Germany, as the advantages are simply too great.
(ec / dpa) * merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network
.
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List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / Sven Hoppe / dpa
