By Maayan Lubell

JERUSALEM, (Reuters) –Israel’s Health Ministry instructed self-testers for COVID-19 Monday to swab both their nose and throat when testing with rapid antigen kits. This will increase your chances of detecting Omicron variants.

According to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the recommendation does not follow manufacturer’s instructions and incorrect throat swabs may pose a risk.

Sharon Alroy Preis, Israel’s chief of public health, stated that antigen tests are more sensitive than PCR tests when it comes to diagnosing illness.

We will now recommend that you swab the neck and nose to improve their sensibility. This is not what the manufacturer recommends, but it is what we have been instructed to do,” she stated.

In a later directive, the ministry stated that one should take a swab from each nostril and first from the throat.

The Health Ministry didn’t immediately reply when it was asked if they had examined whether throat swabs with nasal test kits were effective and whether or not it sought out advice from manufacturers.

Rhenium was one of Israel’s antigen kit importers. It stated that it had not been consulted by the Health Ministry before issuing new guidelines. The company also said that tests that were not used for throat swabs and not approved by them for use in nasal swabs did not apply to the test results.

Gili RegevYochay of Sheba Health Center stated that the use of throat and nasal swabs in combination “would likely raise sensitivity”. He also said that there is an ongoing study that examines the idea.

PLUS ONE TEST

Omicron has been pushing the daily infections to new records, causing Israel’s testing centers to struggle. Health officials have decided to prioritize risk groups and trust young, vaccinated individuals to perform PCR testing at home if they are exposed to a carrier.

Alroy-Preis stated that people who are exposed to carriers should perform more than one test, or wait at most three days before using rapid kits.

Many infectious disease specialists recommend that you perform a throat sweep with antigen tests. Because Omicron is already transmitted when the virus has infected your throat or saliva, but before it gets to your nose, some people may transmit the virus to others.

Wednesday’s medRxiv study looked at 29 Omicron-infected people in high risk professions. They had PCR and Antigen testing performed simultaneously over multiple days. On average, the virus was detected in saliva by PCR three days after rapid nose-swab results were positive.

FDA sent out a tweet on Friday saying that the FDA does not recommend at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 testing.

It said that throat swabs could cause injury if done incorrectly.

Israel has recorded more than 1.5 million cases of infection and 8,000 deaths since the outbreak. According to data from the Health Ministry, 60% of Israel’s 9.4 million inhabitants are fully vaccinated.