What is a nasal swab test?
A nasal swab involves placing a swab inside the nostrils and taking a culture. The CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services do not recommend the use of nasal swab testing by clinicians to determine whether a person has been exposed to Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria responsible for anthrax, or as a means of diagnosing anthrax. At best, a positive result may be interpreted only to indicate exposure; a negative result does not exclude the possibility of exposure. Also, the presence of spores in the nose does not mean that the person has inhalation anthrax. The nose naturally filters out many things that a person breathes, including bacterial spores. To have inhalation anthrax, a person must have the bacteria deep in the lungs, and also have symptoms of the disease.
A nasal swab involves placing a swab inside the nostrils and taking a culture. The CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services do not recommend the use of nasal swab testing by clinicians to determine whether a person has been exposed to Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria responsible for anthrax, or as a means of diagnosing anthrax. At best, a positive result may be interpreted only to indicate exposure; a negative result does not exclude the possibility of exposure. Also, the presence of spores in the nose does not mean that the person has inhalational anthrax. The nose naturally filters out many things that a person breathes, including bacterial spores. To have inhalational anthrax, a person must have the bacteria deep in the lungs, and also have symptoms of the disease. Another reason not to use nasal swabs is that most hospital laboratories cannot fully identify anthrax spores from nasal swabs. They are able to tell only that bacteria that resemble anthrax bacteria are p
A nasal swab test involves placing a swab inside the nostrils and taking a culture. The CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services do not recommend the use of nasal swab testing by clinicians to determine whether a person has been exposed to Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria responsible for anthrax, or as a means of diagnosing anthrax. At best, a positive result may be interpreted only to indicate exposure; a negative result does not exclude the possibility of exposure. Also, the presence of spores in the nose does not mean that the person has inhalational anthrax. The nose naturally filters out many things that a person breathes, including bacterial spores. To have inhalational anthrax, a person must have the bacteria deep in the lungs, and also have symptoms of the disease. Another reason not to use nasal swabs is that most hospital laboratories cannot fully identify anthrax spores from nasal swabs. They are able to tell only that bacteria that resemble anthrax bacteria
