ARIZONA NEWS

UArizona examining new saltwater mouthwash COVID-19 test

Oct 29, 2020, 12:00 PM | Updated: 12:27 pm

Health care professionals prepare to screen people for the coronavirus (COVID-19) at a testing site...

Health care professionals prepare to screen people for the coronavirus (COVID-19) at a testing site erected in a parking lot on April 02, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

PHOENIX — The University of Arizona is examining a new method of COVID-19 testing that uses saltwater mouthwash instead of nasal swabs.

The test was devised by Michael Worobey, who serves as the head of the university’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Worobey said the mouthwash test differs from other saliva-based versions such as the antigen and polymerase chain reaction (or PCR) tests in that it relies on a saltwater rinse and gargle.

Worobey said he’s been collecting COVID-19 samples from patients in Tucson since March.

He wanted to find a way to test patients that didn’t include the nasopharyngeal swab method, in which a swab is inserted deep into the sinus cavity to collect respiratory mucosa cells.

Worobey told KTAR News 92.3 FM that he read on the pre-print server medRxiv about a group in British Columbia that was trying the mouthwash testing idea and figured he’d do the same in Tucson.

“They seemed to have pretty good success with it, where it was almost as sensitive as the nasopharyngeal swabs,” Worobey said. “And actually, it looked like it was quite a bit more sensitive than saliva tests, which have been developed.”

Worobey said he immediately got to work collecting samples from Tucsonans to compare how effective the mouthwash option was versus swabs and saliva tests.

His preliminary results found that the mouthwash tests were even more sensitive than other options, which he attributes to the fact that gargling reaches the cells that COVID-19 targets directly.

“It’s not totally clear but my guess is that compared to something like saliva is it’s a sort of value-added system where you probably get the same amount of saliva that a person would produce for just a direct saliva test,” he said.

“This approach gets saliva when you rinse the saline solution in your mouth. But when you gargle it also gets into the back part of your throat, called the pharynx. And so that’s where the nasopharyngeal swab is trying to get to, the nasal pharynx. And that’s where you have a lot of cells that can be infected by this virus.”

Worobey said the mouthwash test is only being used in his lab as part of a research study.

His department is providing samples to the lab on campus that handles clinical testing. Right now, the university’s lab is using traditional PCR tests on students, staff and faculty, according to Worobey.

Worobey said the department’s preliminary test results have been positive, with the next step being the implementation of the mouthwash testing method campus-wide.

“It’s just a question of how widely do we want to deploy this on campus,” Worobey said. “So I think that we’re in good shape in terms of the research sides of things has shown how well it works.

“We’re well into the validation on the clinical side and that will open the door to having this as a sort of official part of the armamentarium that we use.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Ali Vetnar contributed to this report.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here.

Arizona News

The number of people driving more than 90 minutes to get to work has dropped in the Valley. (Jim Po...

Brandon Gray

Update: Backup cleared on I-17 in Northern Arizona.

Memorial Day travel is causing heavy traffic on southbound Interstate 17 in northern Arizona.

1 day ago

(Pexels Photo)...

KTAR.com

1-year-old dead after drowning in pool in Mesa

  A 1-year-old boy died after being pulled from a Mesa pool over the weekend, officials said.

1 day ago

(Twitter Photo/@AZGFD)...

Alex Weiner

Endangered Mexican wolf pups fostered in Arizona packs this month, wildlife officials say

Three Mexican wolf pups were fostered into a pack in Arizona in efforts to increase genetic diversity in the endangered wild populations. 

1 day ago

(Facebook Photo/Dunkin')...

Brandon Gray

Here’s how you can get free coffee for a year at Mesa’s new Dunkin’ location

A new Dunkin' location is set to open in Mesa and some lucky customers will have the chance to get free coffee for a year. 

1 day ago

In addition to the towers in the first phase, South Pier will have more housing units and retail th...

Ron Davis/Phoenix Business Journal

Developer secures large loan for multibillion-dollar Tempe Town Lake project

The developer of South Pier along Tempe Town Lake has secured a hefty loan to finance the completion of the first phase of the mixed-use project.

1 day ago

(Facebook Photo)...

Associated Press

Mother pleads guilty after Arizona boy starves to death

An Arizona mother has pleaded guilty to murder and child abuse charges stemming from the death of her 6-year-old son who had been locked in a closet and denied food.

2 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

5 mental health myths you didn’t know were made up

Helping individuals understand mental health diagnoses like obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder or generalized anxiety disorder isn’t always an easy undertaking. After all, our society tends to spread misconceptions about mental health like wildfire. This is why being mindful about how we talk about mental health is so important. We can either perpetuate misinformation about already […]

...

Desert Institute for Spine Care

Spinal fusion surgery has come a long way, despite misconceptions

As Dr. Justin Field of the Desert Institute for Spine Care explained, “we've come a long way over the last couple of decades.”

(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

Here’s what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.

UArizona examining new saltwater mouthwash COVID-19 test