Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

    • 21 views

    Goodbye, Brain Scrapers.: Brain Scraping Brain Stabbing Brain Tickling

    Uploaded by

    april
    Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 tests involved very deep nasal swabs that seemed like they could cause brain injury. These "brain scrapers" led to reports of brain stabbing and tickling and put some people off from getting tested. Now, drive-through testing clinics often use less invasive swabs that are briefly inserted and not as far up the nose. The original very deep nasopharyngeal swabs are still considered the most accurate but they are understandably uncomfortable.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Goodbye, Brain Scrapers.: Brain Scraping Brain Stabbing Brain Tickling

    Uploaded by

    april
    21 views1 page
    Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 tests involved very deep nasal swabs that seemed like they could cause brain injury. These "brain scrapers" led to reports of brain stabbing and tickling and put some people off from getting tested. Now, drive-through testing clinics often use less invasive swabs that are briefly inserted and not as far up the nose. The original very deep nasopharyngeal swabs are still considered the most accurate but they are understandably uncomfortable.

    Original Title

    News 2

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 tests involved very deep nasal swabs that seemed like they could cause brain injury. These "brain scrapers" led to reports of brain stabbing and tickling and put some people off from getting tested. Now, drive-through testing clinics often use less invasive swabs that are briefly inserted and not as far up the nose. The original very deep nasopharyngeal swabs are still considered the most accurate but they are understandably uncomfortable.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    21 views1 page

    Goodbye, Brain Scrapers.: Brain Scraping Brain Stabbing Brain Tickling

    Uploaded by

    april
    Early in the pandemic, COVID-19 tests involved very deep nasal swabs that seemed like they could cause brain injury. These "brain scrapers" led to reports of brain stabbing and tickling and put some people off from getting tested. Now, drive-through testing clinics often use less invasive swabs that are briefly inserted and not as far up the nose. The original very deep nasopharyngeal swabs are still considered the most accurate but they are understandably uncomfortable.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 1

    Goodbye, brain scrapers.

    Early COVID-19 images of swabbing from Wuhan, China, looked more like an Ebola news story –
    health-care workers fully encased in personal protective equipment (PPE), inserting swabs so
    deeply that brain injury seemed imminent.

    As COVID-19 (and testing) spread around the world, there were reports of “brain scraping”,
    “brain stabbing” or “brain tickling” swabs. Perhaps this was your experience early in the
    pandemic. Perhaps these stories have put you off getting tested so far.

    But if you go to a drive-through clinic today, you’re likely to have a different swab, one that’s
    briefly inserted and not so far up as before.

    So if fear of the swab itself is holding you back from getting tested, here’s what you need to
    know about these gentler swabs.

    ‘Brain scrapers’ not used so much in drive-through clinics

    The swabs that gave COVID-19 testing its reputation are the nasopharyngeal swabs. Although
    these are considered the “gold standard” of testing, they are undeniably uncomfortable.

    You remove your mask and blow your nose to clear your nasal passages. Then you try not to
    sneeze, cough or gag while a health worker inserts a long, flexible shaft about 12cm up your
    nose and into the back of your throat (until there’s resistance). They then swivel the swab
    against the back of your throat.

    https://rappler.com/science/life-health/covid-19-tests-now-use-gentler-nose-swabs

    You might also like