The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned against swabbing one's throat - instead of or in addition to the nose - when taking an at-home rapid antigen test.
This recommendation follows anecdotal reports and preprint studies that suggested throat swabs may be more accurate than nose swabs in detecting Omicron.
However, in statements on Twitter and to the media, the FDA said that there's currently no comprehensive data indicating that throat swabs are 'accurate or appropriate.'
One new preprint study, posted on Monday, found that rapid tests can correctly identify Omicron when used according to manufacturer instructions.
Experts recommend that people follow rapid test kit instructions - and stick to nose swabs - while scientists and test manufacturers collect more data on different testing methods.
The FDA has recommended that Americans stick to the instructions when using rapid test kits and swab only their noses. Pictured: A Washington, DC resident uses a rapid test outside a local library in the city, December 2021
'Those swabs are for your nose and not your throat,' the FDA said on Twitter last week
Rapid antigen tests have been in extremely high demand in the U.S. in recent weeks.
Unlike the 'gold standard' PCR tests, which are extremely accurate but can take days to return results, rapid antigen tests can be purchased at pharmacies and done at home.
These tests typically return results in ten or 15 minutes.
The convenience of rapid tests comes at a cost, however: the tests are less accurate, especially early in the course of a coronavirus infection and for asymptomatic individuals.
During the Omicron wave in the U.S., several experts, including Dr Anthony Fauci, have suggested that the tests could also be less accurate for this new variant.
In late December, a new strategy to combat that potential inaccuracy started gaining popularity on Twitter: swabbing the throat instead of, or in addition to, the nose.
Research on Omicron has suggested that it might multiply faster in the respiratory tract than in the nose, which seemed, to some throat-swabbers, like a potential reason why this strategy may be more accurate for this variant.
Jacklyn Grace Lacey, a medical anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History, got a negative result on a nasal swab, followed by a positive result on a throat swab, she told Slate.
Another 36 hours later, she got a positive result
