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Individuals who have had the COVID swab take a look at say that it looks like their mind is being pierced by an outsized cotton bud. Latest lurid headlines won’t put individuals comfortable. “Girl’s nostril ‘begins leaking mind and spinal fluid’ after she took a Covid swab take a look at”, mentioned the Each day Star. “Coronavirus swab take a look at went up to now up a girl’s nostril it brought on her mind to leak”, was the Mirror’s headline.

However the place did this story come from – and will we give it any credence? The newspaper reviews are primarily based on a case examine revealed in a revered medical journal, JAMA Otolaryngol Head & Neck Surgical procedure. It tells of a girl in Iowa, USA, who was requested to self-swab for COVID earlier than present process a hernia operation. Shortly after swabbing, fluid started leaking from her nostril. She additionally developed a headache and began vomiting.

The docs on the College of Iowa hospital, the place she was handled, recognized the fluid as cerebrospinal fluid – a fluid that’s discovered within the protecting lining across the mind and backbone.

So is that this trigger for alarm?

Not likely. The 40-year-old lady had a pre-existing defect within the base of her cranium (the bone on the prime of the nostril) and a sac of mind tissue had protruded out into the nasal cavity. This can be a uncommon situation that we see in neurosurgery and in ear, nostril and throat clinics.

About one in 10,000 infants are born with a defect like this, however the price at which it happens in adults is unknown. On this woman’s case it was in all probability as a result of the stress inside her cranium across the mind was increased than regular, making a weak spot.

This can be very unlikely for any one that doesn’t have this pre-existing weak spot within the nostril to trigger any harm with a swab. Nonetheless, tip when swabbing the nostril is to keep in mind that the within of the nostril travels again, in the direction of the again of the top, and never up. So any swabbing of the nostril ought to contain pointing the swab in the direction of the again of the top in the identical route as you’ll level the swab in the direction of your tonsil whenever you swab your mouth – which is a part of the identical take a look at.

The within of the nostril follows the roof of the mouth in the direction of the again of the top.

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Please don’t be afraid of getting your nostril swabbed. It could be uncomfortable, however you can not by chance jab your mind. The swab take a look at is our solely approach of telling who has and who hasn’t received COVID. It’s a significant public well being device to assist us carry this pandemic beneath management.

Carl Philpott doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or group that may profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their educational appointment.