Anyone else had a letter about a covid testing study?

I’ve had a letter asking if I will take part in a study by Imperial College London comparing two home tests swab of nose & throat vs saliva. It says the swab ‘May cause some mild short lived discomfort’. I’ve heard that it’s quite unpleasant.

i feel like I should do it as I’ve been asked but considering sore throat is one of my symptoms slightly concerned I might struggle with the swab.

it’s the test to see if you currently have CV but doesn’t register if you’ve previously had it. I don’t think I’ve got it or have had it I’ve had little contact with people since lockdown and not been inside any buildings other than home.

 

I have not received such a letter, and TBH if I did/do would not do it.

An accurate antibody, or other test to determine if I had had it, would be a different matter.

But I've been shielding since the 18th of March, the only people I have had any contact with are delivery drivers, and all but 2 of them have been further than 2 meters away at all times.

I suppose it's possible that I could pick it up off of a bag, or box, or even the banister or bin lid, when I put rubbish out - but not very likely, and allegedly within 14 days of no 'unusual' symptoms that possibility diminishes.

So IMO taking such a test would be a waste of my time, their time, resources, and any discomfort would be totally unnecessary.

In short (lol), it's all downside with no possibility of their being any upside for me, or anyone else.

(I also fail to see the point of assessing 2 different testing approaches on people who do not already have a current positive test result, as what is being tested for isn't the virus but the reliability of the 2 testing approaches)

 

In case you are interested saliva tests are now coming out. Maybe they are testing how good the new saliva method is vs swab? Columbia have a new rapid COVID-19 test using saliva.


News article :
https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/one-two-three-spit-covid-19-test-born-columbia-fertility-clinic

Paper : Field-deployable, rapid diagnostic testing of saliva samples for SARS-CoV-2.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.06.13.20129841v1

My understanding is that the Columbia test uses an improved RT-LAMP detection method. Here is the wikipedia entry for RT-LAMP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Transcription_Loop-mediated_Isothermal_Amplification

 

Ooh good point @Wonko they should be doing a different study. All/some of the folks who have suspected Cv should be asked to do both.

 

There is a Q&A for the study here
https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/covid-19-swab-and-saliva-test-faqs

 

Here is the reason you got the letter from the FAQ link

ETA:

 

I had a swab test. I had been using the ZOE Covid App to report daily symptoms, and they asked me to go.

I was worried about the nasal swab, but in reality it was much easier than the throat swab.

Honestly, I had no idea I could stick something so far up my nose!! Yet it was just weird. The throat one though is a bit gag inducing, but not awful either.

I was clear. As expected.

 

Yep that’s in the letter it’s pretty comprehensive.

 

So did you have to do both nose and throat for the same test - the swab test consists of two separate swabs?

 

I've been doing swab tests weekly as part of the ONS study.

The throat one can be a bit uncomfortable until you get used to it, mainly because you have to go right to the back of the throat (behind the 'arch') – it's really ticklish, and can make you feel like gagging slightly. But it's not in any way painful, and only takes a few seconds. With the study I'm in, you do your throat first and then both nostrils, all with the same swab. The nose isn't uncomfortable at all.

If you want to try before you decide, maybe do it in front of a mirror with a cotton bud taped to a biro (or something similar)? You have to sweep around your throat gently four or five times, and try to avoid your teeth and gums. It's also worth blowing your nose before you do the nostrils bit, to make sure your swab doesn't emerge with an embarrassing gift on it!

 

Oh... maybe that word “swab” shouldn’t be in my post.... it was the cotton bud on a long stick, it gets wiped over back of throat, then after that stuffed up each nostril in turn and twirled around a set number of times.

So yes, nose and throat all done on the same cotton bud.

 

No problem they call it the swab test so that’s fine I hadn’t gone on to the website to look at any details possibly this is all explained there.

 

I haven't read anything about the study but I'm guessing they want to know how often the tests agree, whether that's positive or negative. As such, I'd have thought they may be just as happy to get those who know they will be negative as long as they are getting a reasonably representative sample.

 

A bit selfish but I think I’m going to pass.

 

My mum got selected to do the antibodies test... she doesn't have the antibodies, not really a surprise since as far as we know we haven't had covid!