Corona gurgle tests planned at Austrian schools

Christine Albert studied German linguistics and literature as well as Scandinavian studies at the Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg. She is currently doing a traineeship at Hubert Burda Media and is writing, among other things, for

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A corona smear deep in the nose is a rather unpleasant thing. But there are alternatives. Austria is now gurgling 15,000 students.

Corona tests with gargle water for students and teachers should provide an overview of the infection situation in schools in Austria from autumn. A representative group of 15,000 pupils and 1,200 teachers at 250 schools is to be tested every three weeks in order to record symptom-free cases, as Education Minister Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP) announced on Monday in Vienna. Instead of the usual throat swab, a gurgling procedure is used for the tests, which was developed by researchers in Vienna and tested in early summer.

Gargle with saline solution

A special saline solution has to be gargled for one minute so that particles from the throat stick like a smear. The sample is then analyzed for virus genetic material in a laboratory. According to the researchers, ten samples can be tested at once. If the result is positive, the samples are analyzed again individually.

In a pilot study in the spring, in which 5,100 students and teachers were tested in Vienna, the gargling gave results comparable to the throat swab, said the microbiologist and study director Michael Wagner from the University of Vienna. Gargling is much more pleasant and manageable for children: even among first graders, 80 percent delivered perfect samples.

RKI is reluctant

The city of Cologne is currently also testing a test procedure with a gargle solution in Germany. If the procedure proves to be as reliable as the smear, gargling in Cologne should largely replace the unpleasant nasopharynx smear, announced the local health department. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) was initially reluctant to use the method. "The sensitivity is usually estimated to be lower than with a good smear," said an RKI spokeswoman on Friday the "Tagesspiegel".

Education Minister Faßmann emphasized that the monitoring program in Austria is intended to supplement the classic tests by the health authorities. The schools in Austria are scheduled to start operating normally at the beginning of September. A planned four-stage traffic light warning system should then trigger certain measures in individual regions, depending on the infection situation, such as wearing a mask in the school building or a return to home schooling. (approx / dpa)

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