Conducting ‘inconvenient’ anal swab test needs careful study — DOH

MANILA, Philippines — Conducting anal swab tests in the country would need careful study as it would be “very inconvenient” for both the individual to be tested and the health workers who will administer the test, the Department of Health (DOH) said Friday.

“Kung kami po ang tatanungin sa DOH, kung talagang kakailanganin at makikita with sufficient evidence na ito naman po ay talagang makakapagyield ng accurate results also, pag-iisipan pong maigi ng gobyerno ‘yan, because as we say it is really inconvenient for both the individual and the healthcare workers,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online press briefing.

(For the DOH, if there’s really a need to conduct these tests and it is proven with sufficient evidence that it would really yield accurate results, we will study it carefully because it is really inconvenient for both the individual and the health worker.)

According to reports, China has begun using anal swabs to test those it considers at high risk of contracting Covid-19.

Vergeire noted that some reports from China claimed that the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, apparently lingers longer in a person’s anus than in the respiratory tract.

If anal swab testing would be considered in the country, it will still have to undergo validation study of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, according to Vergeire. She added that materials that would be used in the test should also be registered with the Food and Drug Administration.

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