PEORIA, Ill. — With COVID-19 saliva testing gaining emergency-use authorization from the FDA last week, patients should expect to see faster results compared to nasal swab tests.
Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Douglas Kasper told WMBD’s Greg and Dan Tuesday morning that the saliva test cuts out multiple steps from the swab tests.
“What the saliva protocols are doing is bypassing two steps that slowed down the process,” said Kasper. “The saliva test doesn’t require a swab, and it doesn’t require an extraction step.”
Kasper said that by dropping a physical product, the swab, and a lab step, the extraction, time can be significantly reduced.
The same science is used to get the results, according to Kasper. The only thing that is different from the swab test is the collection method.
Another advantage of the saliva test is the versatility of places it can be used.
“Now you have a test that can be widely applied to any different type of setting: home, mail-in, drive-thru and whatever you can come up with,” said Kasper.
The saliva test will also be useful as it relates to group settings. Kasper added that the saliva test can test up to 50 people at one time allowing entire groups to know if they are positive or negative.
Kasper said that he expects saliva testing to become more available.
“I would look for this to become widely available as fast as they can bring it up within the lab,” said Kasper.
According to Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the University of Illinois and the state are working together to make the test available to colleges, K-12 schools, and long-term care facilities within the state.
