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A member asked:
Would a blood test be more accurate than a swab test for diagnosing covid-19?
2 doctors weighed in across 2 answers
Different targets: The swab test looks for viral material (RNA) in infected naso-phayngial tissue, so it is the best for diagnosing current infection (patient is infectious!) while the blood test looks for antibodies to the virus in already recovered (possibly immune) patients.
Answered 5/7/2020
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Agree w Dr. Omar: The swab tests for active disease, the serology (blood) test checks for evidence of past infection.
Answered 5/7/2020
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