Any doctors here?

I seem to recall doing a spit test for Covid research purposes, along with a finger-pri*k blood test. It was definitely preferable to inserting a swab up my nostrils and then down my throat (also done for research).

Guybrush mentioned that a couple of posts up, but it may be less effective.

We are now just under five full days from the point of exposure, so the need to test is getting less urgent now. When I was following the clinical data closely when it started, four days was the max given 'twixt exposure and presentation of symptoms. 

I have neither the Z-pak or Flccc treatment packs to hand, so apart from being concerned about passing it on, there's not much advantage to the "knowing" for me, but if there was a less unpleasant way of testing, I'd burn through the test kits I have as they are getting a bit old now.

It was (of course) an "I'm all right jack, I've had the vaxx and boosters, I can go out, despite feeling ill" type who exposed us, and not another of us "selfish, dangerous, should be in a camp", unvaxxed people...

Bah. I'm bored of Covid shenangans now... 

Am I the only one to know that some places did indeed trial and use a spit’ test to test for covid?

Thanks for that. I also owe you an apology for my attitude in the other thread where we had some interaction.

I had a generally poor attitude on the day, and did not extend adequate respect or politeness to your arguments. 

BY way of explanation: You used a very annoying label "Conspiracy theorist" which was created by the C.I.A a while back to discredit people who were trying to oppose a well known large scale deception, and it now gets applied to anyone who has any sort of dissenting opinion, to discredit them by association with the most lunatic fringe.

You might as well substitute the word "Lunatic" in most peoples minds, when you use that phrase, as was intended by the originators of the phrase.

I reality, as regards Covid I am quite aware that this is a fluid situation, where new information is appearing all the time, and I am REALLY hoping that my own "take" on the situation turns out to be faulty, but unfortunately, the evidence appears to be going the other way, and indicating that we were all wilfully misinformed as to the nature of the treatment offered, and wilfully NOT informed about any alternatives.

Indeed, there was a definite campaign of suppression, and censorship, which some of us feel was simply not right, and some of us feel the need to try to oppose to the best of our ability. I will try and do it more politely and less stridently in future.  

Even now there are people calling for those of us in the "control group" to be forcibly vaccinated against our will, whilst others who demonised and tried to victimise us, are calling for us to "forgive and forget". It's all become rather tiresome, and more than a little annoying to many of us.

But being unpleasant doesn't solve anything, hence this apology, and I hope, an adequate explanation for my conduct on the day.

Virus particles, and their DNA, are most concentrated inside cells. The stick is supposed to take mucosal cells off the nasal and pharyngeal lining, as well as mucus.

I'm not sure but it's probably less indicative. Lots of tests only required the nose anyway.

I had my tonsils taken out when I was very young, so does that nullify that aspect of the testing anyway?

I think it is because Covid was found to like sitting and replicating in the nasopharanyx so you take the sample from the top and the bottom of that area. I really struggled to get them up my nose, especially in hay fever season. I did sneeze on them as well for good measure when I had to do them twice weekly for work. I have also seen a false positive where a patient had just swallowed a mouthful of tuna sandwich when the nurse insisted on doing the hospital admission test. They can easily be contaminated by other things inside your mouth and throat. There are some tests where you spit into the tube of solution, my sister in law used them at some airports but I’m not sure they are available in the UK. They’re possibly less accurate than LFT

well I can tell you why 'hawking' stuff up wouldn't work. Acid, including stomach acid, can throw off the test making false positives. This is why they tell you to do it at least 30 minuets or more after eating, so there is no residue of the food and drink in your mouth / tracts. Now anything you hawk up, especially by coughing, might have some material from the digestive tract, even digestive acid. I suppose technically if you wanted to go nose mining with a rubber glove on and wipe the extracted snot on the stick that might work. But really they target those areas, the tonsils and space behind the nostrils, because they are hotspots for the virus. And they ideally want to hit all 4 in case the virus has taken off on one side faster than the other which is not that unusual in the early stages.

Incidentally children keen for a day off school have been known to drip coca cola on the flow test to generate the false positive ... the acid again.