IDSA updates recommendations for COVID-19 diagnostic testing

The Infectious Diseases Society of America discussed the revised recommendations for diagnostic testing for COVID-19 on Wednesday. The guidance was posted on December 23, 2020.

The presentation discussed the limitations of the nasal pharyngeal swab test that was recommended in earlier guidelines, including discomfort for patients and the need for training on how to do this. For symptomatic individuals, the new recommendations suggest collecting a “nasopharyngeal swab, mid-turbinate swab, anterior nasal swab, saliva, or a combined anterior nasal/oropharyngeal swab rather than an oropharyngeal swab alone.” They discussed the potential limitations for this recommendation as well.

They also discussed the 2 at-home tests that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, noting that there is still a lack of information on how they perform, but both tests are known to perform better in the first week of infection because of the higher viral load.

For more on the presentation and updated recommendations, check out our sister publication Drug Topics.