When it comes to nucleic acid testing, many of you may think that you need to go to a hospital laboratory to have your body examined with medical equipment. But in fact, nucleic acid testing is done by two methods: nasal swab sampling and throat swab sampling.
Therefore, there are many people who do not believe that nucleic acid testing can detect NIV by pestling in the nose or mouth, and why nasal and throat swabs are not reliable. In fact, the nucleic acid test is so simple.
Why do we use nasopharyngeal swabs for nucleic acid testing?
After the neo-coronavirus has invaded our body, the favorite place to stay is our lung organs, followed by the trachea, and then the nasal and oral cavities. But it is not necessary to open the chest for lung test just to have a nucleic acid test, right? Therefore, it is relatively convenient to swab the deepest part of the nasal cavity with a nasal swab or to swab the throat with a pharyngeal swab to confirm the infection of neointimal pneumonia. And a recent study found that the positive detection rate of neo-coronavirus nasal swabs is even higher than pharyngeal swabs! Because of what the amount of virus in the nasal cavity is much higher.
Viruses are made up of nucleic acids and proteins, and this test actually detects nucleic acids (DNA or RNA, the genetic molecule of the virus). In layman's terms, it is similar to the dumplings we eat, where the nucleic acid is the filling and the protein is the skin. The dumplings look the same on the outside, but what the filling is cannot be discerned from the surface. Therefore, to distinguish the type of virus, nucleic acid testing is required.
How long does it take to do a nucleic acid test?
At present, the fastest time to do nucleic acid testing in domestic laboratories is 2-4 hours, plus the time for specimen sampling and delivery, the results can theoretically be available the same day or the next day. If the test result is positive, the virus is detected; if it is negative, the virus is not detected. A person with a positive result will be considered a confirmed patient or an asymptomatic infected person only after further diagnostic analysis of their symptoms, epidemiological history, lung CT and blood.
