COVID: Nasal swab testing

It frustrates me as a science educator when I hear and read pseudoscientific and erroneous claims being spread by individuals. Such claims have become particularly egregious and dangerous during this pandemic.

In The Press on Sunday, JoAnn Lokken claimed that a scientific paper referenced on WebMD states that COVID testing using saliva samples is just as effective as nasopharyngeal swabs. The paper itself does not say this. I would guess that she has not read the paper which requires a knowledge of scientific statistical testing and analysis to evaluate the validity of its conclusions.

The authors of this paper conclude that “oral rinses were suboptimal…when compared with nasopharyngeal swabs.” The final statement of the paper appears to contradict this, but when read carefully and in context, the oral rinses may be acceptable alternatives when medical supplies or medical staff are not available to collect samples directly from patients. The current consensus is that the use of nasopharyngeal swabs is the preferred method of sample collection giving the most consistent results.

My primary reason for writing this letter is to remind the public that science is done by scientifically trained individuals that perform relevant research and then communicate their findings in peer-reviewed scientific journals. They then read and analyze hundreds to thousands of these papers before a consensus is reached. One cannot fully understand a scientific concept by reading a single scientific paper or worse by reading about a scientific paper reviewed in some other publication.

MICHAEL McCORMACK

Coeur d’Alene