At 12:01 AM 10/16/2001 +0200, Ralf-P. Weinmann wrote:
On Sun, Oct 14, 2001 at 04:55:45PM -0700, Karsten M. Self wrote:
- CDC currently does NOT recommend the use of nasal swab specimens as part of evaluating anthrax threats/implied threats or evaluating concerned citizens who think they may have been exposed to anthrax.
Does anyone know why the CDC does not recommend using nasal swab specimens for testing ? Is that because you can only reliably detect inhalational anthrax that way or is there any other reason ?
Well, I don't know what's the CDC's concerns are, but nasal swabs seem likely to answer one question - "does this person presently have anthrax spores inside their nasal passage?" which is different in several important ways from other questions of interest, including - Has this person been exposed to anthrax bacteria or spores in the last 60 - 90 days? Has this person's immune system created antibodies to the anthrax bacteria? Have this person's lymph nodes become infected? Are toxins being produced? Some people may have anthrax spores in their nose but no infection (perhaps they were exposed to far fewer than the 5-10000 spores needed for inhalational anthrax) and some people may have an infection but no spores in their nose (because they have cutaneous anthrax, or because they blew their nose a lot, or because they're frequent users of powderered inhaled drugs like cocaine or amphetamine and don't have hair inside their noses). So - if the purpose of the test is to determine which people need medical treatment - the test is likely to be misleading, sometimes optimistically, sometimes pessimistically. -- Greg Broiles gbroiles@well.com "We have found and closed the thing you watch us with." -- New Delhi street kids