The Anal Swab Test For COVID-19 Detection Are Deemed Unnecessary In Indonesia

JAKARTA - The Chinese government introduced a new method for examining COVID-19, namely the anal swab test. Is it time for the coronavirus testing using anal swabs to be carried out in Indonesia?

In response to this, Hasbullah Thabrany, a public health expert from the University of Indonesia, considered that Indonesia does not need to use anal swabs in the COVID-19 test.

"Our methods with PCR swab tests, antigen tests, and GeNose which are now being developed are very good", Hasbullah told VOI, Friday, January 29.

Hasbullah said the swab test that is plugged into the nose and throat has been able to detect COVID-19 well. Meanwhile, anal tests are needed if the virus has infected the digestive tract.

"Anal tests are only necessary if the virus has attacked the digestive tract", he said.

Previously, this anal swab protocol was carried out because from the results of a study, it was seen that patients who recovered from COVID-19 then got positive test results after going through a swab test in the lower digestive tract.

In fact, a few days earlier, this patient had done a swab test on the nose and throat which later showed negative results. Furthermore, the Chinese government will carry out this test only on certain groups, such as in quarantine centers.

"If we add this anal swab test, it can increase the level of identifying infected patients", said Li Tongzeng, an infectious disease specialist at Beijing You'an Hospital.

"But of course, considering that collecting anal swabs is not as comfortable as throat swabs, currently only key groups like those in quarantine accept both", he added.

In fact, China tried this anal swab testing procedure on a small group last year whose results were later circulated in research journals.

A group of Chinese researchers published a study in the journal Future Microbiology in August that reported that for some recovered coronavirus patients, anal swab samples were still positive for COVID-19 after they tested negative via throat swabs.

When the test was carried out, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued instructions in March 2020. It is said that the samples that could be used were feces from patients. However, if this is not possible, an anal swab is performed by inserting a cotton-tipped stick three to five centimeters into the rectum.