#covid saliva test

[4uhealth]

Navigating Health Tests: Food Sensitivity, Food Intolerance, and COVID Saliva Tests

In the realm of personal health and well-being, understanding your body's responses to different stimuli is crucial. From identifying food sensitivities and intolerances to monitoring infectious diseases like COVID-19, various tests are available to provide insights into your health. This guide explores three important types of tests: food sensitivity tests, food intolerance tests, and COVID saliva tests, helping you navigate their purpose, methods, and benefits.

[maridotnet]

ow

[hannahhasafact]

I’m treating this cold like no problem even tho I feel not good but I think it’s only because the last time I had a cold I felt like I was dying for a week

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

im thinking of jobs that involve contact with the private area. doctors, beauty salons, tattooist/piercer. they all wear gloves and work in sterile environments, also the worker is clothed.

im thinking of jobs that involve saliva. also doctors, covid test stations. again, sterile environment, worker is clothed, probably even wearing a mask, and gloves.

im thinking of jobs where the worker has to get naked. actors and actresses, models. they are at least supposed to have a coach on set and an agent supporting their safety.

none of this is implemented in prostitution and never will be because it destroys the illusion of it being about sex and not money and power exerted through it. sex cant be regulated or professionalised and thats beside the point that with all possible regulations it is still unwanted sex.

[covid-safer-hotties]

You were asking for COVID news the other day. I don't know if this counts, but the Aptitude Medical Metrix COVID Test reader is back in stock after being out of stock for at least a month if not more. AFAIK, they're the only at-home, molecular, reusable test available in the USA (and it took me far too long to even learn it existed. I only found out about a month ago, despite being in the C19 Cautious-sphere for a few years now.) The reader costs US$50 and the tests cost US$25 each. It's also possible to do a saliva test instead of a swab test if needed.

(It won't let me put a link, sorry.) (I'm not affiliated with them nor do I make any money off of this; I just thought it would be useful for people to know. I know I was refreshing their page every day for the past month.)

Added a link on our "where to buy" section of the archive!

I know a girl who uses these because she travels all the time! A bit more expensive than the RATs, but incredibly accurate for such a small package!

[wingedcat13]

The note about changing toothbrushes is so interesting. Do people not swap theirs out every 3 months as the packaging says?

Can confirm they do not, as it requires a variety of factors, including the awareness of the passage of time - but even if you do swap it regularly, if you’ve got Covid or some other illness commonly transmitted via saliva (like strep throat) and you’re concerned about re-infecting yourself, it’s a good idea to just go ahead and swap to a new one.

When I had Covid I swapped to a new toothbrush the first day I started Paxlovid, on the third day I swapped again, and after I tested negative I swapped again, because fuck that noise. (We had a packet of a bunch of toothbrushes already, so I didn’t have to worry about going and buying any)

I prooobably could’ve just waited til the end of the Paxlovid dosages to swap, but it made me feel better, and again, immunocompromised. Wasn’t going to play with that.

[bodyalive]

How to Shift the Body into the Parasympathetic Side of the Nervous System

Breathing out and holding out or pausing at the bottom of the breath amplifies the body's natural production of Nitric Oxide, a vasodilator that expands the porosity of our vascular system. During Covid, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital found that Nitric Oxide improved respiratory permeability & bronchodilation. (They were not looking for the vasodilation effects but I’m sure that must have been happening too.) I first learned about breath holding out from Rosealba Courtney DO Lac from Australia, who used it to test Eucapnic metabolic health, the O2/CO2 exchange rate in the lungs. This was a contributing factor to asthma and sleep apnea and restricted breathing exercises could be used to cure asthma. Then I encountered this again studying at the beginning level with Lois Laynee. She had adopted a practice of Breathing out while humming to increase Nitric Oxide and Vasodilation and used it to calm the nervous system. One of the key actions to making the shift was swallowing at the bottom of the breath before inhaling again.

Signs that the parasympathetic nervous system is coming back online in the body:

+Spontaneous swallowing. When we are in a state of shock, our mouth dries up, we don’t produce saliva (neither are we producing digestive enzymes), and in order to swallow our food we need to drink something. Eating when in a state of stress, you can’t digest your food.

+Intestinal gurgles and rumbles. Have you noticed that when a client begins to relax that their organs and intestines begin to gurgle? As the parasympathetic wakes up, the viscera wake up.

+Yawning. Did you know you can make yourself yawn simply by rubbing your jaw muscles vigorously with your fingers and opening your mouth wide anticipating/expecting to yawn. Fake it til you make it.

Putting these two things together has enabled me to work effectively with shifting people out of long Covid symptoms. It has become my conviction that breathing dis-regulation is the metabolic habit that locks our nervous system into the Sympathetic side of the CNS where natural healing and self regeneration cannot happen due to the ‘emergency’ metabolism associated with the fight for survival.

[Thanks Jocelyn Olivier and Neuromuscular Reprogramming]

[captaincolossal]

Okay, well, it was symptom check-in day for the respiratory illness study that I'm in (this came out of the Covid study I joined in 2020 that was initially supposed to be six months, but ran for three years) so for the first time in either study, I had to tell them that...that I have...I have Symptoms.

And the app was like "hey! sorry you feel crappy, but remember that box of test kits we sent you? need ya to crack one open and spend the next 60-90 minutes swabbing and spitting" and I was like...can I finish my tea first. So I finished my tea, waited 30 minutes without consuming anything, and then worked my way through a rapid test (second negative for Covid, RSV and flu A and B), a nasal swab specimen collection, and a saliva specimen collection that I have to mail to them For Science.

Honestly, I feel better than I did yesterday, much less wheezing and gasping. Stairs are still exhausting, especially if I have to carry anything, and thus no laundry was done, which I had intended to do today. I just haven't been sick at all in just over 5 years, so I'm being very whiny about it.

Starting the new year with just a lot of nearly 3 hour 70s films, I guess. Gotta make more tea though, hang on.

(Actually made some ginger drink, which I get at the Southeast Asian market, and it's just ginger sugar and cayenne. Hot and spicy sugar water.)

Solaris (1972)

Slow burn Soviet sci-fi may not have been the correct choice when I'm already a little foggy, but it's certainly gorgeous.

I like how it's about, like, people and weird people shit, rather than speculative technology.

[its-moopoint]

Will never understand how so many are so stupid but here they are proving themselves just that. Covid protocols where daily during S6 filming not just ones/day but multiple times every day. They filmed in small groups planned months ahead for testing purposes so when scenes like this one happened, they were both tested to make sure Cait was protected the most. To say this about her is appalling. They don't look at her like an actress doing her job but as his adjacent who wouldn't do these scenes unless she was screwing him in RL.

dstormborn13 asked:

Hey! New here… just wanna say, just in case, T and C are a real couple… I feel so bad for the dude after watching 6x08 again yesterday… I mean if S is only her co-star it’s really hard to believe it 😏

balfeheughanmm answered:

you feel so bad for the vamp? well, i don’t.

when i think about episode 6x08, i’m really shocked. what pregnant woman in her right mind would agree to record a scene like that with her naughty blonde co-star who hangs out with a bunch of blondes around? who assured her that he couldn’t give her covid? who assured her that he was respecting covid regulations? the only person she could trust in the middle of a pandemic would be someone very close to her. someone who shares a LIFE with her. someone who LIVES under the same roof as hers, in the same house, aka her HUBBY.

being pregnant in the middle of a pandemic is difficult, i even went through it and i didn’t trust anyone. i didn’t get close to anyone, i didn’t even share saliva with my husband (poor soul, i was disgusted!). and i believe she could have asked for body doubles (?), refused to kiss him, even though they were soooo good friends, she could not have done it. but the fact is that she did. the fact is that she always does the things that deliver what they have. and it was hot, intense, real in so many ways, hormones raging and very sensual, as only they know how to be. friends? just co-stars? MY EGGS!

TELL ME PLEASE! how did she get home to t after having sex ferociously with s the way she did? how did she get home to t after being clinging, hugging and laughing with s all day? holy shit. she is a slut or a liar. i don’t think she is a slut, never. i think she is a liar. but i love her anyway 😏

i usually say that i have some GIANT receipts and this specific scene from this episode is one of them. :)

Who wrote the shipper part, a 6 year old?

We've read about the COVID restrictions, rules and working environment in OL. She had to shoot, it was her work and couldn't just say no and ruin all the set timetables.

Apart from that as you say the protocols assured he was clean and isolated.

[4uhealth]

Unlocking Wellness: The Power of COVID Saliva Tests and Beyond

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the emergence of at-home testing kits has been a game-changer, offering individuals unprecedented access to vital diagnostic tools from the comfort of their homes. Among the myriad at-home testing options available, two stand out for their significance in promoting wellness and disease prevention: COVID saliva tests and food sensitivity tests. Let’s delve into the details of these innovative testing methods and explore how they are reshaping the way we approach health and wellness.

[meditating-dog-lover]

Why I think it came from a lab

Note: before you judge me for what I'm about to say, just know I am speaking from a scientific and biological standpoint. I'm a cell biologist who works in virology, and have a BSc in Anatomy and Cell Biology and MS in Neuroscience. I'm a scientist, not your 40 year old conservative MAGA uncle on Facebook. I absolutely hate how the pandemic was politicized as you should never introduce bipartisan nonsense to indisputable and factual matters like science and diseases.

So coronaviruses are nothing new. There have been previous coronavirus strains that infected the world. There is the one that caused SARS in 2002 and the other that caused MERS in 2012. And yes, bats do spread them. They are species capable of zoonotic infections (between species), including rats (spread the bubonic plague) and cattle. However, COVID-19 was a lot more devastating than the other 2 outbreaks. With all the modern knowledge and technology we have on disease prevention/control and vaccines/drugs, the fact that this outbreak was devastating to the point of causing a global pandemic is suspicious. There is no way something as cataclysmic came from nature given our current immunological and microbiological advancements in the 21st century. And judging how bats have spread coronaviruses in the past, it was never this catastrophic.

This leads me to think there was gain of function research involved using animal models in a lab (the Wuhan Institute of Virology). I do have a theory as to how they conducted their research, but it could be wrong. But gain of function research was definitely taking place. I believe they had animals in the lab that were positive for coronavirus (either bats or rats). They took nasal swabs and/or saliva samples from them to be able to harvest cells that had coronavirus RNA replicated in them. One strange thing about some viruses is that they do not possess any DNA. They contain RNA, which is the nucleotide chain that is generated from DNA during a process known as transcription. And most RNA sequences are converted to proteins via translation. Why some viruses lack DNA, however, I never really knew why.

Now in this day and age, we have the technology to modify the sequence of DNA/RNA. This process is known as gene editing. You would have to cut the sequence at specific nucleotide junctions, either insert or remove nucleotides, and then glue the sequence back together. One famous method of doing so is using the CRISPR technique. But there are many other ways to modify DNA/RNA sequences. These modifications do have an effect on the function of the virus. By editing the virus' RNA sequence, you can either cause the virus to weaken (loss-of-function) or to strengthen (gain-of-function). Some modifications lead to no changes in the viral strength and activity. Weakened viruses are used in traditional vaccines, so this is when RNA editing can be beneficial. However, I do believe gain-of-function gene editing was performed in the lab by using the coronavirus RNA sequences harvested from these animals that tested positive for the virus.

This is one theory as to how the gain-of-function research was conducted. There are many ways to do it, we can never be sure as to how it was exactly performed with these coronavirus samples in the lab.

Now how it spread from the lab to the rest of the world, I have no idea. Obviously, infections spread between people who interact with one another. How it expanded from a single lab to the whole world is a complex process to understand.

So this is my theory as a cell biologist regarding the origins of COVID-19. Yes it came from a lab. I fail to believe something this infectious and destructive came naturally from bats. We have the technology and immunological knowledge to aid in minimizing the spread of illness and creating effective drugs and vaccines. Looking at previous trends where bats have spread coronaviruses to other animals and humans, they did not result in global pandemics to this extent. So I think the virus was genetically modified to become more infectious. What was the reasoning behind this? What was the hypothesis they were trying to test? I don't know.

Here in the US, there are strict regulations as what type of research you can conduct in a lab. In theory, you can create almost anything in a lab, from drugs, to explosives, to deadly bioweapons. However, just because you can, doesn't mean you should. While that strictness is enforced here, it is not in other countries unfortunately.

I am devastated by the destruction the pandemic caused. From a single viral outbreak, to illness, disease, lockdowns, crashing economy, closing of small business, politicization of science and biology, anti-Asian hate, etc... Had we had the knowledge beforehand, this would have fared better for us.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Today is the 117th birthday of the world’s oldest living person, Maria Branyas Morera.

Maria was born on 4 March 1907 in San Francisco, USA, but returned to Spain with her family when she was eight to settle in Catalonia.

She's lived in the region ever since and has resided in the same nursing home for the past 23 years.

She became the oldest person on Earth in January 2023, following the death of 118-year-old Lucile Randon (France).

"She is very grateful for all the congratulations received and the interest that so many people have shown in her state of health," said Eva Carrera Boix, the director of Maria's nursing home.

"She is happy to be able to celebrate this special day intimately with her family and colleagues and wishes everyone a happy Monday."

Beyond being hard of hearing and having mobility issues, Maria has no physical or mental health problems.

In fact, she's in such good condition that she has agreed to undergo scientific testing by researchers who hope to gain further insight into the secrets to long life.

Scientist Manel Esteller, who has conversed with Maria at length, told Spanish outlet ABC:

“She has a completely lucid head. She remembers with impressive clarity events from when she was only four years old, and she does not present any cardiovascular disease, common in elderly people.

It is clear that there is a genetic component because there are several members of her family who are over 90 years old.”

Samples of Maria’s saliva, blood and urine have been taken and will be compared with those of her 80-year-old daughter.

The researchers hope that assessing Maria’s genes will aid the development of drugs which could combat diseases associated with ageing.

Befitting her status as the world’s oldest person in the digital age, Maria is active on X (formerly known as Twitter) with assistance from her daughter.

Her bio states: “I'm old, very old, but not an idiot.”

In addition to “luck and good genetics,” Maria attributes her longevity to “order, tranquility, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, no worries, no regrets, lots of positivity, and staying away from toxic people.”

Due to her poor hearing, Maria's family use a voice-to-text device to communicate with her.

She became permanently deaf in one ear when she was a child, after falling while playing with her brothers during the voyage from America to Spain in 1915.

This wasn’t the only misfortune the family suffered aboard the ship – Maria’s father sadly died due to pulmonary tuberculosis towards the end of the journey.

Maria lived through the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 as well as the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), which she said she has “very bad memories” of.

She got married in 1931 to a Catalan doctor named Joan Moret, with whom she had three children.

Her husband passed away in 1976; she has also outlived her only son, August, who died in a tractor accident at the age of 86.

Over a century after the 1918 pandemic, Maria also survived COVID-19.

She contracted the virus a few weeks after turning 113 in 2020 but made a full recovery within days, becoming the world’s oldest COVID-19 survivor.

The title was taken later in the year by Lucile Randon, who was three years older than Maria.

Despite admitting that she’s “getting closer and closer to death” in a post on X last month, Maria maintains a positive outlook on life and believes that there is always something new to learn every day, even at her grand old age.

She is now the 12th oldest verified person in history and should she reach her 118th birthday, she’ll climb up to 5th place.

The oldest person ever authenticated was Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who lived to the age of 122 years 164 days.

Source: Guinness World Records

Celebrating the World's Oldest Person: Maria Branyas Morera's 117th Milestone

5 March 2024

From surviving global pandemics to outliving generations, Maria’s journey is a testament to longevity and resilience.

[definitelynotsiffrin]

Update on the sickness:

Got a lot fucking worse last night. My entire body is hurting like HELL and back and i cant breathe from how stuffy my nose is.

Weirdest part of it all? I do not have a fever. My temp is not even high enough to be considered a mild fever.

And tbf? That's what concerns me more lmao. Like I am so miserable, this is what you'd expect from a 40ºC fever and yet I have nothing.

Absolutely betting on it being covid. I'm going to have to ask my dad to buy a testing kit as much as I do not want to (it hurts to stick the swab so far down my nose and the only ones sold here are the ones that go all the way back. will try and see if there's saliva tests or something cause rn my nose is hurting already by itself)

[tuesdayisfordancing]

Apparently there are home covid tests that use saliva instead of a nasal swab? I have never encountered them but it’s apparently what I’ve been meant to be using as someone who inevitably gets a little bit of blood or snot on the swab no matter how carefully and gently I blow/clean out my nose first.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Correlation of patient symptoms with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant viral loads in nasopharyngeal and saliva samples and their influence on the performance of rapid antigen testing - Published Oct 9, 2024

Study showing 1. The one-and-done method of rapid testing used by many is not good enough to prove covid negativity because rapid test were desined for serial testing 2. saliva swabs increase the accuracy of Rapid Antigen Tests.

ABSTRACT Evaluating SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in nasopharyngeal (NP) and saliva samples, factors affecting viral loads, and the performance of rapid antigen testing (RAT) have not been comprehensively conducted during SARS-CoV-2 Omicron epidemic. This prospective study included outpatients enrolled during Omicron variant period in Japan. Paired NP swab and saliva samples were collected to measure viral loads by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The correlation between viral loads and clinical symptoms was examined. The performance of an immunochromatography-based RAT kit was also assessed. A total of 153 patients tested within 3 days of symptom onset were included. The mean viral load was 5.60 log10 copies/test and 3.65 log10 copies/test in NP and saliva samples, respectively, resulting in a significant difference (P < 0.0001). Fever over 37°C (axillary temperature) and total number of symptoms other than fever were identified as independent factors positively correlated with the viral loads in both NP and saliva samples. RAT sensitivity using NP and saliva samples was 92% and 68%, respectively, using positive RT-qPCR results as the reference. The sensitivity of RAT using NP and saliva samples was significantly higher in patients with fever ≥37°C and/or at least one symptom than in those with fever <37°C and/or no symptoms (97% vs 83% in NP swabs; 80% vs 50% in saliva). Distinct symptoms, including fever ≥37°C, may reflect high Omicron variant viral loads. Rapid antigen testing, not only using nasopharyngeal swabs but also using saliva, would be useful for COVID-19 diagnosis as point-of-care testing, particularly for symptomatic patients.

IMPORTANCE We examined nasopharyngeal and salivary viral loads using samples collected from outpatients with SARS-CoV-2 infection during the Omicron epidemic in Japan and explored the outpatient factors correlated with viral loads. In addition, we evaluated the performance of an authorized rapid antigen testing (RAT) kit using nasopharyngeal and saliva samples with RT-PCR testing as the reference. Intriguingly, a correlation between fever and other symptoms and SARS-CoV-2 viral loads in nasopharyngeal and saliva samples was observed based on one COVID-19 outpatient visit. RAT sensitivity was influenced by viral loads. Nevertheless, nasopharyngeal RAT is considered useful for SARS-CoV-2 point-of-care diagnosis. In patients with distinct symptoms, including high-grade fever, salivary RAT could be a practical diagnostic tool because of the higher estimated viral loads. After the Omicron epidemic, outpatients with mild COVID-19 have become the main focus of diagnosis and treatment. Our study provides valuable information regarding the point-of-care diagnosis of these patients.

[whisperofthewaves]

I just remembered in my dream today I was in my idea of an american grocery store or something (one sized like a corner shop, not like a shopping centre) and it was a joint with a very small mcdonalds which was only for takeout. but anyway. I was coughing when I tried to buy stuff from the shop part and the clerk literally put a covid saliva test device under my face for me to spit into and then went to the back to wait for the results. when it turned negative he came back with a nose spray and used on me. and then he brought an olive oil cream and spread on my hands. like a finish to some weird health care routine.

there were people waiting in the line.