New Coronary Pneumonia | Testing Center: It is difficult to sample throat swabs by themselves

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Written by: Ouyang Dehao

2020-08-07 11:48

The new crown pneumonia epidemic in Hong Kong continues. The Home Affairs Department will cooperate with charities and social service organizations to expand the service scope of the new crown pneumonia community testing program starting today (7th), including Wong Tai Sin District, Kwun Tong District, Tuen Mun District, Yau Tsim Mong District covers 46 buildings and approximately 86,000 residents. Wong Tai Sin (Zheng Oi) District Councillor Shun Yuxuan pointed out that many neighbourhoods misunderstood the detection of deep throat saliva collection. Although the management office has broadcast videos on the ground floor of the building, they are worried that the elderly have low absorption capacity and do not know how to collect samples by themselves.

Huang Libao, director of the Hong Kong Center for Molecular Pathology, pointed out that the testing procedures in the Mainland are different from those in Hong Kong. The Mainland uses throat swabs for sampling, and it is easy to deal with the "mixed sample (mixed sample test)" procedure during testing, enabling large-scale population screening. He believes that the collection methods of throat swabs and deep throat saliva are also relatively accurate, depending on whether the collection method is correct and up to the standard.

District Councillors worry that the elderly do not know how to collect themselves

Wong Tai Sin (Zheng Oi) District Councillor Shun Yuxuan pointed out that the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau has arranged for more than 20 people to distribute throat swab sampling kits to Ci Ai Court this morning (7th). Residents can queue up outside the building to collect them. He pointed out that many neighbourhoods misunderstood the detection of deep throat saliva collection. Although the management office has broadcast the video on the ground floor of the building, they are worried that the elderly have low absorption capacity and do not understand the procedures for collecting samples by themselves. He also pointed out that due to the severe epidemic in Tsz Wan Shan, neighbourhoods have reduced their outings, and the business of merchants has been bleak. I believe that improvements can only be made after neighbourhoods regain their confidence.

Cen Yuxuan pointed out that the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau this morning (7th) has arranged for more than 20 people to distribute throat swab sampling kits to Ci Ai Yuan, and residents can queue up outside the building to collect them. (Photo by Liang Pengwei)

It is difficult to collect throat swabs by oneself

Huang Libao, director of the Hong Kong Center for Molecular Pathology, pointed out that the testing procedures in the mainland are different from those in Hong Kong. The mainland uses throat swabs for sampling, and it is easy to handle the "mixed sample (mixed sample test)" procedure during testing, which enables large-scale population screening; The detection time of larynx saliva is long and it is difficult to "mix samples". He believes that local laboratories need to jointly decide on procedures before they can conduct large-scale tests in Hong Kong.

Huang Xuhui pointed out that although throat swab sampling has certain advantages, Hong Kong is different from the Mainland. Hong Kong does not have a large number of medical staff to take samples for citizens. He explained that if citizens take their own swabs, they may not be able to complete the procedure, because cotton swabs must be placed in the mouth or nasal cavity, and they will feel discomfort during the process, such as sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, etc., worrying about false negative test results . "The average person coughs tightly before putting it in, even if they slobber, there are many false negatives if they don’t hold it well."

The results of throat swabs and deep throat saliva are equally accurate

When asked about studies that found that swab sampling is more accurate than deep throat saliva, Huang Libao retorted that “three-year-old children know how to cough deep throat saliva, and the result of saliva is natural.” He believes that throat swabs and saliva The test results of deep throat saliva sampling are also relatively accurate, depending on whether the collection method is correct and up to the standard. He cited throat swab sampling as an example, "If a medical nurse sees a patient so disgusted, will Zhong dare to leave the team again?"

What is distributed this time is not the deep throat saliva sampling used earlier, but the throat swab sampling kit. The authorities in protective clothing explain the method to the residents. (Photo by Liang Pengwei)

It is recommended to arrange sampling by the Auxiliary Medical Team or throat and nasopharyngeal swabs together

In order to improve the accuracy of swab sampling, Huang Libao suggested that the government arrange manual sampling for citizens. However, the medical staff in the public hospital are too busy to sample. He suggested that the government arrange for appropriately trained personnel such as the Auxiliary Medical Service, stating that only the infection work can be done to swab the citizens, and he also pointed out that workers who have never heard of samples from the Mainland have been infected with the virus.

Huang also pointed out that the United Kingdom, like Hong Kong, requires citizens to take their own samples. However, the United Kingdom uses both throat and nasopharyngeal swabs. After sampling, citizens put the two swab samples into the same bottle. He believes that the government can learn from local practices to improve accuracy.

▼In the third wave, the government has extended the restrictions on gatherings and banned food in the evening market.▼

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