The U.S. FDA recently approved an affordable saliva-based COVID-19 test. Could it effectively replace nasal swabs?
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Recently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new COVID-19 test that gets around a lot of the hurdles experienced with the nasal swab tests.

In an effort to ramp up testing and slow the spread of the virus, the FDA has given SalivaDirect emergency use authorization.

Keep in mind that just because it has an emergency authorization doesn’t necessarily mean it’s effective. It just means we’re in an emergency and the FDA is willing to try things that would undergo more trials in normal times.

Not only does SalivaDirect minimize contact with frontline workers keeping them safer because a patient simply has to drool into a tube at the lab, it also streamlines and combines a few steps in the process to speed up testing and reduce the use of valuable resources.

The Yale researchers behind SalivaDirect don’t intend to commercialize the test and have been open about their methodology. Find out more about the new COVID-19 test in this Elements!

#covid19 #pandemic #testing #health #seeker #science #elements
Read More:

What Takes So Long? A Behind-The-Scenes Look At The Steps Involved In COVID-19 Testing
https://khn.org/news/what-takes-so-lo...
"We asked experts to help explain why the turn-around time for results can vary widely — from hours to days or even a week — and how that might be changing."

Quick and affordable saliva-based COVID-19 test developed by Yale scientists receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization
https://news.yale.edu/2020/08/15/yale...
"SalivaDirect is simpler, less expensive, and less invasive than the traditional method for such testing, known as nasopharyngeal (NP) swabbing."

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization to Yale School of Public Health for SalivaDirect
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press...
"This is the fifth test that the FDA has authorized that uses saliva as a sample for testing."

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