RT-PCR SALIVA TESTING IN BAGUIO

Philippine RED CROSS Baguio Chapter for COVID-19 REPONSE lead by the Red Cross Chairman Rodolfo Balajadia, Anastacia B. Tamayo –Baguio Chapter Administrator, Ryan Mangusan – Member of Board of Director and Jeng M. Terre – Donor Recruitment Officer was conducted the first RT-PCR Saliva Testing at the Grandstand Melvin Jones Tuesday morning this is a test that uses saliva to diagnose COVID-19 infections. It also undergo the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) technique, which is the gold standard for COVID-19 testing.

Advantages are quick and safe It only requires a small saliva sample, the time requirement for an individual is minimal, even less than a minute. People basically must spit into a small container. The procedure is safer in that there is less risk of exposure to health care workers collecting the samples.

Noninvasive it requires only a small sample of saliva as opposed to the standard nasopharyngeal (NP) swab,  it is highly sensitive and is accurate like results of nasopharyngeal-based tests. Cheaper than the use of nasopharyngeal swabbing. Other countries using Saliva Testing are Japan, Hongkong, Thailand, Australia, Israel, United Kingdom, Singapore and United States of America. Photo by: Mario Oclaman