March 24, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – The accuracy of coronavirus PCR tests “may vary by time of day,” according to a new study. In an analysis of 31,094 results from PCR throat swab tests, researchers from Vanderbilt University found “a two-fold variation in test sensitivity” based on the time that the swabs were administered.
Tests were most likely to come back positive when taken around 2 p.m., the researchers said in a pre-print paper published on medRxiv earlier this month. The skewed pattern “suggests a cyclic pattern in viral shedding, with a peak in the early afternoon,” they added.
“Such temporal considerations may be leveraged to maximize the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical intervention strategies,” the authors commented. “That could entail emphasizing midday to early-afternoon masking at home while isolating,” Reuters said.
The Vanderbilt paper is the latest of several studies that have exposed significant accuracy issues of the “gold-standard” PCR testing method for coronavirus. Last year, a paper published in the BMJ reported that PCR throat swab tests may have a mere 32 percent sensitivity rate and nasal swabs might have only 63 percent accuracy.
A study highlighted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in November likewise found that PCR tests missed
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